Dear Mr Dino
by neverkarma
Summary: Sasuke and Hinata's life with baby Fugaku. And they have a second-a girl? (Sequel to WP)
1. Little Mr Dino (10-11 09:52:08)

A/N: Hi! These are just going to be a series of cute one-shots. Some might be mature themed, but all in all, it will be light and sweet. And I am planning to upload really short chapters, if I feel like it. I am planning to take this very sweet and easy, unlike what I did with Waker's Pearl, which was a serious journey whew. Not gonna start a new sasuhina story any soon. Just too much work with little to no positive feedback or encouragement at the end. It was frankly, very disheartening. So I decided to write whatever the heck I wanted-reviews or criticisms be damned.

So, no, **I'm not receiving complaints or feedback about word length or quality or so-called historical accuracy (Naruto is a fictional universe after all, dammit).** But yes, I may consider chapter requests.

Enjoy!

* * *

A cold, chilly October evening, Hinata, Sasuke, and their baby were walking down the mall street. It was drizzling cold, and the rain couldn't make its mind between being snow flakes or water drops. With his baby wrapped securely to his chest, Sasuke held his wife's hand so she wouldn't slip on the icy ground, and she looked up to him with gratitude. She was making slow progress on her winter boots because the ground was just so slippery. Sasuke's glove-clad hand wrapped tightly around hers.

She was wearing a half pastel pink, half grey knitted scarf around her neck, and her cheeks were bright red due to the cold and excitement. They were going to have dinner at a local restaurant because Hinata didn't feel like cooking and was craving something greasy and steamy.

Sasuke glanced at his wife, and saw how she was excited, if not more excited, than their baby Fugaku, about dining out. Her eyes were sparkling as they reflected the street lights in the mall street.

He then looked forward and hid his blush underneath the Burgundy red muffler his wife knitted for him. He told himself if weather permitted, he should take her out more often.

Hinata and Sasuke really liked barbecue, especially Korean barbecue, but they opted for a restaurant that specialized in fresh pond fish soup with spicy, crispy Schezwan peppers. They were craving hot soup in this really cold, dreary weather.

When they stepped into the tiny cute wooden cabin with the board, "Haiqin's Place," a small bell chimed, informing the owners of their visit.

Haiqin's Place was a Schezwan specialized restaurant where the owner is Haiqin, who married a lady who came from that area. The hostess's family were the ones who cooked the delicious, spicy meals. The smell of cilantro and use of various oils took time for the Uchiha couple to get used to at first, but soon they couldn't get enough by the rich, flavorful oiliness of the cuisine.

Haiqin's mother-in-law was an elderly lady, short and stout in stature, with a kind smile and rosy cheeks. She would always set aside a tall, wooden chair specialized for babies for their two month old son Fugaku.

The hosts, especially the ladies, adored Fugaku and always wanted to hold him.

Fugaku didn't mind the attention, as he had a calm temperament just like his daddy, and he derived simple, small pleasures just by watching people.

Sasuke mused how Fugaku's age had the effect of making his staring hobby 'cute' instead of 'creepy.'

This time, the infant watched his mother curiously as she took a sip of the Haiqin's speciality, the Schezwan fresh pond fish soup with green onions and chilly red crispy peppers, and blew steam into her frozen hands, as she felt the spice warm up her entire body in a second.

Fugaku stared at his mother with wide eyes, as she clasped both hands to her mouth and blew steam, and her ears and the tip of her nose turned red. In Sasuke's eyes, he seemed to be wondering what his mother was doing.

Sasuke smirked, "You aren't even good at eating spicy stuff. Yet you love this place."

Hinata smiled guiltily, "But it's so good! It's like...electricity in your mouth!"

He smiled at her expression. Electricity in the mouth. Quite aptly put, he would say.

When the hostess offered a sweet jellied sticky rice dish for the baby, Fugaku looked very disappointed when his mother had to apologetically decline, because he was still too young.

His grey eyes fluttered to the hostess's retreating back and then to his mom who was eating the sticky rice dish for him, and his lips turned up in a pout, and he puffed out his cheeks.

Then he watched his father-who was elegantly picking up a piece of beef with long, wooden chopsticks and eating away in silence.

After their satisfying dinner, they started heading home, which was a good walking distance away.

The sky was darkening, and they were taking a stroll down the cobble stone path with an umbrella over their heads.

Her husband had Fugaku wrapped to his chest with a cozy wrap, and he was holding a big umbrella over his head and his baby's.

When the wind started to howl, he tucked his son's round head underneath the wrap to protect his delicate face from the harsh, cold breeze.

His son's tiny, pouty lips pursed as he rubbed his plump cheek against his father's chest, absorbing the rhythmic, pounding warmth. His grey eyes started to flutter, open and closed, as he felt the effect of sleep catching up to him.

The young father was taking wide strides in his haste to get to their warm, comforting home, but then he stopped and stared into one of the store windows.

Hinata became curious of what could have caught his interest.

So she stopped and took a peek as well.

It was a toy shop, and one of the toys in the display was a light green colored stuffed T-rex dinosaur. She would have thought it was a lime colored lizard, if it wasn't for the curved hind legs and the triangular plates on its back. The dinosaur's black beady eyes seemed to be saying 'hi' to Sasuke and Hinata in an innocent, unassuming way. Hinata remembered how she used to feel as if her stuffed animals were the only ones to understand her, when she was little and painfully shy.

She glanced at Fugaku's father's face, and he seemed to be in deep thought. His sculpted lips were set in a line, as his obsidian colored eyes gazed at the little stuffed doll.

But as usual, he just closed his eyes and brushed off whatever was in his mind and continued walking as if nothing happened.

Hinata looked at the store window and considered walking in and take the reptilian friend home with her family, but to her dismay, the store was closed.

That night on their bed, she asked him about the stuffed toy that caught his attention. She just had to. She lied by his side. He was lying on the bed, his eyes closed, his long eyelashes casting a shadow underneath his eyelids.

"Sasuke."

He opened his eyes.

"You seemed fond of the stuffed dinosaur in the toy shop," she stated.

He didn't answer at first. Not even his characteristic "hnn." His dark eyes seemed to be in deep thought, as if he was gazing into a faraway distance, some past memory only he was privy to.

Then he said, "It looked like something my brother gave me." Hinata hushed her breath. And he refused to say more, and she didn't prompt or goad him.

Then she placed her head on his shoulder and cuddled to his chest.

Hinata looked up at his face that seemed unemotional, but years of marriage told her he was feeling sad. She tightened her arms around his bare chest, and he hummed and tugged her close to him as if she was a cuddly, stuffed doll.

She made a soft grunt when she felt his strong arm hold her even tighter, tilting her towards him, and he nuzzled his nose against the side of her neck.

Then he wrapped his arms around her and leaned on top of her and started unbuttoning the front of her cozy sleepwear. She looked up to his face that hardened in concentration as he started taking off her clothes, and she stroked his right cheek tenderly.

She could feel the sense of desperation in his loving hands that pawed at her body, and she felt saddened by how tortured he was. His movements, though still caring and warm, were somehow rougher and more desperate, as if his mind was being chased by some dark specter.

She heard the sound of 'click' as he unclasped her bra and his breath sucked in as he saw her round, globular, milky breasts. He cannot help but look as if he was being punched to his gut. It has been forever since he held her, since he didn't bed her till she fully recuperated from her pregnancy. He was very patient with her, even she had to admit.

Goosebumps rose on her arms as he sucked on her left nipple. And then he rose, glanced at her with a deep pinning stare, and turned his focus to the right nipple.

When she felt the growing pressure of his mouth on her nipple, she whined, "Sa-Sasuke, I..I might have to feed Fugaku soon-He might wa-wake up-"

The suction of his mouth was so much that her mind started to dizzy, "Fu-Fugaku needs his milk" she tried to reason with him.

He hoarsely whispered as he impatiently tugged down her baggy pants, revealing her undies, "Just a little bit..."

"Wa-wait-!" she cried as she felt him pull down her pants below her ankles, and his mouth continued to latch greedily on her right nipple, "ah-ah!"

She stretched out her neck and tried to bury her burning, blushing face onto the plush pillow.

"n-no-" She couldn't help but groan out the word that pricked on his ears, "meanie..."

He muffled her mouth with his hand and lowly uttered, "Be quiet."

As he muffled her cries with his hand, he took time admiring her décolletage area, her delicate collar bone and the way her reddened neck stretched so gracefully. Then he lowered himself and latched onto her erect nipple.

She screamed into the palm of his hand over her mouth and struggled, but he already held her shoulders down with his arms and her light lavender eyes started tearing up.

She whined and tried moving her shoulders, but he held her down with his weight and continued sucking on her nipple.

Then he felt a trickle of warm, thick milk that sipped between the crack of his dry lips and into the tip of his tongue.

He groaned audibly, and tightened his long fingers' grasp over her round shoulders and unlatched his mouth from her reddened breasts with a pop.

He stared intently and closely over her reddish brown nubs, and the drops of white liquid oozing from the tip. Then he stuck out his long, thick tongue and lapped at the dripping milk like a panther.

Frankly, it didn't really taste like anything, but he loved the smell and the delectable warmth. Now he knew where the smell of milk that always hovered around Fugaku came from.

Hinata shivered and looked at him accusatorially, "Meanie..." Her eyes teared up as her entire body shivered in heat as he continued lapping on her breasts, "Bad man..."

Then she felt him stop his licking, and his strong hands grabbed and squeezed both of her breasts.

Her toes curled over the linen bed sheets, and he admired how her back arched upward as she mewled more name-calling-as obscene as Hinata's curses could be.

That was when he rose on his knees, grabbed both sides of her hips and pulled her towards him. She looked up to him in a daze, as she was helplessly dragged over to where he wanted her the most. He licked his lips as he saw the tears in her eyes that looked up to him pleadingly, how her dark blue hair spread all over the sheets like a halo. She looked like an angel.

Then he suddenly impaled her, and she almost screamed, and Sasuke blocked her cries with his hand as he pulled out momentarily before again thrusting into her at a heartbeat. As he felt her bite onto his palm, but not hard enough to break his skin, he started pumping his hips against her deliberately and roughly. At every push, she felt her chest rise in shock and tears trickled down her closed eyelids.

As he felt her tight vaginal muscles suck onto his cock greedily, he felt the overwhelming bliss take over him, in the color of white-light purple white like the color of her eyes. He snapped his hips against her, letting all the sadness and frustration of the remnants of his past out as well as his sexual frustrations that were pent up during and after the pregnancy. He heard her muffled groans when he plunged even deeper into her warm, welcoming depth between her thighs.

Then he let go of her lips and crouched over her body and wrapped his arms around her, and started thrusting into her more rapidly.

She felt him go inside her balls deep, and she buried her lips onto the crook of his shoulder in an attempt to silence herself.

When she noticed that his nuts were hairless and shaved, she almost came right then and there. The velvety softness of his pouches bumped onto her labia on and on, and his length kept filling her and withdrawing from her at a steady, teasing rate.

Then she heard his loud grunts near her ear, his grunts increasing in volume and repetition. She turned her rose petal-like lips to his ear, "Sa-Sasuke, please...the baby..."

She didn't want to wake up their baby who must be asleep like an angel in his room. She begged her husband, "Husband, please...the baby..."

He snarled, his eyes glowing in a maniacal excitement, "It's always about the baby, isn't it?"

Her eyes widened in confusion, "What do you mea-"

Before she could complete her question, she felt him slam down at her and fuck her faster and harder. He dug the balls of his feet on the mattress, ruining the sheets, as he applied weight on his knees, burying himself balls deep into her, "Fugaku-Fugaku-, it's always about Fugaku-"

Her mouth opened, and she panted as she writhed in excitement and dismay, and Sasuke looked down at her with triumph, a maniacal smile over his face as he towered over her and kept thrusting into her. Now it was all about him and her.

He laid his hands on her quivering inner thighs and gently pulled them wider as he went for a deeper plunge. She gasped and protested as she heard the smacking sounds of flesh against flesh.

He closed his eyes and gasped, feeling the incoming orgasm, but he quickly balanced himself on the other hand that pressed onto the mattress and thrusted into her at least several more times. As mentioned before, it was forever since he held his wife.

When he managed to open his eyes, he saw that his wife was close to passing out on the bed, her temples sweating, closed eyelids relaxing and squinting as he pulls out and thrusts, and her body becoming limp.

He was getting exhausted by the heat and ardor of their sex, so he could only imagine how much harder it must be for petite Hinata.

He pulled out, and Hinata flinched when she felt the slap of a white liquid against her inner thigh that her husband ejaculated. She felt the gooey foam dripping down the curve of her thigh and squeezed her legs together as she felt the electrifying surge of desire wane like tides of waves. She bit her bottom lip.

Then she felt a light kiss on the side of her cheekbone. She opened her eyes and saw her husband's look of concern, "Are you okay?"

She was sure what she had on her face was a goofy smile, "Yes."

He kept staring into her light lavender eyes. She raised her eyebrows and looked back at him.

He then frowned, his dark brows snapped over his eyes. She looked at him surprised and then playfully frowned back.

He then asked her with all the world's seriousness, "Can I eat you out?"

"N-n-no!" Hinata blushed like her face was going to explode and shook her face frantically, "No more! Done! Ice! Ice!"

He seemed disappointed but he didn't press any further.

As he held her lean, soft, naked body closer to him and started fondling her with his calloused fingertips, he murmured what he used to always tell himself when he would be making love to his wife or see her nurse their baby on the rocking chair.

He didn't take his happiness with Hinata and the little ball of warmth slumbering in the nursery room for granted.

"I-"

Hinata's eyes snapped open. Next, her ears heard what she didn't expect to hear from him at all.

He towered over her, his long arms caging her on the mattress. "I will do everything in my power to protect you. To protect this."

She felt her eyes getting moist and her chest pounding. He made a faint smile that she loved so much.

This little happiness that he finally secured. He will never let go of this.

She clawed at his back as if to bind herself closer to him, as a swipe of balm against a torn, wounded flesh. She loved him so much.

* * *

The next day, which was Saturday, Fugaku was lying on his baby mat, staring up onto the white ceiling. Hinata didn't have to go to school because it was the weekend. Sasuke was out for work. The baby was on the futon, wearing his cute, green dinosaur themed onesie that his mama made for him, a surprise gift for Sasuke. The onesie was T-Rex themed and dark green, and it had a hoodie.

Hinata loved how the light green lime color of the onesie reflected on Fugaku's clear grey eyes. The color made his eyes look an alluring color of emerald crystal quartz. Plus, her two and a half month old baby looked adorable as a fierce dinosaur. She was particularly proud of the little triangular shaped spikes on the hoodie and the spinal part of the outfit. Those small details indeed made her baby look like a frightening T-Rex. She chuckled to herself.

His head was covered with a fuzzy, dark tuft of hair. And he had a shiny button nose. He was neither too chunky nor too thin. Just the right size to feel the comforting warmth and tender softness of his limbs when she holds him. She always felt as if she could hold him forever.

His adorable chipmunk cheeks were moving as he suckled on his pacifier. She mischievously poked him on his cheek, but her son paid her no mind and kept trying to turn around and land on his belly.

Hinata put on a playful, mock-sad face, with an upside down frown on her lips. The way her son would ignore her when he is too busy focusing on something reminded her of Sasuke way too much.

But she could understand. Right now, her baby's biggest ambition was to roll. On his own. But no matter how hard he would try, he couldn't roll on his belly. The best he could do was to do a little side twist, his face turning red at the exertion. She could hear his tiny frustrated grunts.

Hinata's eyes widened. Being a baby must be hard. She poked on the side of his belly, but he kept ignoring her, going "urn! urgh! unn!" as he twisted his side, pushing his short leg against the invisible barrier that was keeping him down on his back.

After his multiple tries, Fugaku finally took his breath. He slumped back on his baby mat and sucked on his paci as he stared into the ceiling. His mother had put cute animal pictures and a photo of him with his parents on the ceiling. But he was still too young to properly see all the colors of the pictures.

But he would amuse himself by looking up at the ceiling as he sucked on his rubber paci. His tiny hands moving a little. Hinata marveled at how small his nails were.

"So cute," she cooed.

His mother was sitting on the floor, by the side of the futon. She was flipping a page or two from a book called, "Am I doing this right?: The Only Guide to Parenting you'll ever need."

She frowned at some parts of "do not this" or "do not do that," and put sticky notes over words of encouragement for new mothers like herself.

When she would get tired of reading the book, she would turn around and smile and play with Fugaku.

She would look at her baby boy and smile and rub his belly and give his belly a little kiss. Then, Fugaku would pump his little, pudgy legs and arms.

Maybe it was the sensation of moist, warm lips on his belly that made him feel tingly.

She stared into her baby's clear eyes that gazed back at her. When he felt her touch on his belly, his tiny fingers automatically wrapped around her finger.

She could make out the trace of a tiny smile hiding behind his pacifier, by the way his grey eyes seemed to slightly crinkle.

The faint trace of the baby's smile was enough to melt her heart. The warmth of his tiny, stubby fingers that wrapped in a tight grip over her finger-they all melted her heart into mush and turned her into putty in his little, plump palms.

"I never knew such a little thing could steal my heart." She murmured to herself.

She chuckled and cooed to her baby, "I can't wait for you to call me 'mama.'" She looked down at him with sweet tenderness, "I love you, my sweet baby."

Then she made a mock serious face at her son, "Don't tell your papa what happens too often, okay, Fugaku?"

Her baby just moved his right arm and looked up at his mother innocently, almost as if he was asking her what did she mean.

"Your papa got really mad, and he-" She suddenly blushed a bright red. Last night, while Fugaku was wrapped in innocent, sweet slumber, she had to face her husband and his jealousy. He was so jealous of how affectionate she was to her baby and how Fugaku was her priority that he felt the need to remind her where their baby even came from.

At the memories of last night, Hinata buried her burning face into the crook of her arm, her long hair spilling across her shoulders. Fugaku turned his head to his mama and looked at her with innocent curiosity, his toes and tiny fingers curling as his arms and legs moved.

"I think you're too young to have a little sibling," she kissed his soft temple, and the baby winked at the sudden feel of her lips, "Don't you think so?"

She stroked his tummy up and down and whispered, "I love you, my sweet angel."

Then she heard the sound of the door opening.

At the sound of heavy footsteps, Hinata smiled brightly and held her baby in her arms and headed to the door. She held him, so he could face front, his short legs dangling in the air as he was wearing the green dinosaur costume. His feet was completely covered in the light green onesie.

Her husband was taking off his shoes and putting them aside in a neat row. Then he looked up and his eyes widened by a fraction as he saw his son.

When she saw the surprised look on his face, she laughed, "Look at his outfit! Isn't he adorable, Sasuke?"

Sasuke stared for a moment, and then he couldn't help but smile in defeat, "Cute."

In his hand was Mr. Dino with a red ribbon around his neck. Hinata covered her mouth and laughed when she saw the stuffed doll in her husband's hand. She was more than happy to see the cute stuffed reptilian friend to join their family. She was sure that he would have been an amusing sight—a cold, handsome man holding a bright light green cute dinosaur stuffed doll. But knowing his personality, he probably didn't care about the stares and knowing giggles from neighbors and strangers.

Fugaku was sucking on his fist, his pouty lips drooling all over his tiny fist, as he stared at his papa and the green dinosaur doll. He reached out his tiny hands toward the doll his father got for him, and his mother had to adjust his position from "sitting baby" to "superman baby" to control his little squirms. Hinata never saw so much light in Sasuke's eyes as he behold his son's adorable excitement over the (to the baby) life sized dinosaur.

That evening, instead of bothering his wife, Sasuke tucked his baby dinosaur to sleep with him on the bed. Not Mr. Dino, but the warmer Mr. Dino who drools, poops, and wraps fingers around his pinkie.

Hinata smiled, as she looked at her husband sleeping side to side with his baby dinosaur. He was a grown man with serious, cold features, with a green dinosaur curled in a fetal position next to his face. Somehow, Hinata could see the overlapping features between the two-the serious, set lips, the long dark lashes, the brows slightly narrowing time to time during their dreams. She could also imagine little Uchiha Sasuke, who might have been five or six, holding a green stuffed dinosaur in bed. But now there was the big Uchiha Sasuke, with his other baby dinosaur.

The night light lamp was rotating slowly, reflecting soft light on their peaceful faces. Mr. Dino was sitting next to the lamp on the cabinet.

She lifted the blanket cover and lied down next to them. She then placed a kiss on her sleeping baby's cheek. Her soft voice murmured like a warm breeze, "the tiny one who stole my heart."

Then she lifted herself slightly to place a kiss on her husband's forehead, "the tall one who stole my heart."

Then she lied down, enjoying the snuggles to the warm bodies, "I love you both..."

And like magic, they all smiled with their eyes closed.


	2. Chapter 2

Dino-san's first snow day

Since their cozy night, Fugaku was called affectionately as "Dino san" by his family, even by his serious father. Hinata tried to get him to call their baby "Dino chan," because it is oh, so much cuter. But Sasuke stuck to "Fugaku" or "Dino san" when addressing his chipmunk cheeked son.

It would make her laugh when Sasuke turns to Fugaku and calmly calls him in a soothing, almost formal tone, "Dino san" on the dinner table. Sasuke with chopsticks placed in his long white fingers would turn to Fugaku who was wearing an Uchiha signia sewn bib.

Then her tiny son would actually watch him intelligently with his pretty grey eyes. As if he understood that it was his second name. And that it was his stoic father addressing him.

Hinata overjoyed at this sight, cannot resist wondering if her baby was already a genius—like all young mothers secretly do.

And her husband was the only one who she felt comfortable enough to vent her heart felt musings about her son's future.

"What if he says he wants to be an infamous ninja like his father?"

She worried out loud in the middle of the night on their bed. She started to feel her thoughts reeling like a hamster on a wheel. What if she has to send him to a bigger elementary school after kindergarten? What country would offer the best preliminary education? She read in the news that the Land of Clouds is offering free education for children who could recite poetry or 'rap,' as the new art form is called. Maybe since her son is already understanding language, he could read and later recite too! Then he'll recieve his first ever scholarship!

Sasuke innerly chuckled. He wondered if shy, timid Hinata will turn into a tiger mom. But he had a feeling that Fugaku will be no easy match. Even though their baby practically worshipped his mother in his quiet, unassuming way, he was quite stubborn sometimes.

Her husband who was secretly a big cuddler for a man of his size and icy looks, turned to her and wrapped his arms around her, "He can't even sit on his own because his neck is too weak to support his head." Nuzzling close to her, he murmured "Go to sleep."

He was closing his eyes as he nuzzled his face beneath her chin, his breath quietly fanning her neck.

It was true. If they were ever going to make baby Dino sit on his own, the baby will fall backwards because of the weight of his head and weak neck.

Hinata guggled softly, imagining their son falling backwards, his butt lifting from the floor. Sasuke groaned, "you've been on this for days. Go to sleep."

She loved how Sasuke would speak to her in a low, half asleep, sandy voice as he closes his eyes and curls like a kitten on cream next to her.

She turned her face to him. He cracked open a bleary eye, "what?"

Then she kissed his forehead, and he didn't move.

She also loved how he would still freeze at her initiated kisses. As if he can't get used to them even after they did pretty much everything. Everything that led to having a healthy baby.

Sasuke was actually quite shy. Nobody would expect that from his haughty demeanor, blessed good looks, and his passion for Hinata. But he rarely initiated loving, affectionate gestures like hugs and kisses. So he would mentally curl into a ball of embarrassment whenever he was being touched. At least when it came to kisses and hugs his wife surprises him with.

She looked beyond the transparent curtains, the winter wonderland view.

She couldn't believe the foot length of snow piling out outside. The snow was fluttering like tiny down feathers, flowing here and there, there and here, as they descend onto the white snow. The lit candle by their bedside window illuminated the snowflakes that descended near the glass. A tiny wet moist halo decorated the tiny flame.

"You smell nice." His voice was groggy as he was deeply sleepy and it has gotten very cold and snowy where they lived.

She smiled as she lied down on her side, facing him, "I just nursed Fugaku."

She was wearing a pale nightslip that showed her soft, milky breasts. She was not into wearing revealing clothes, but her growing baby needed to be fed regularly even during nighttime. So she chose an attire that could be easily slipped off. Sasuke never complained.

He continued speaking with his eyes closed. Hinata could barely count his thick, black lashes.

"Fugaku" he uttered, "smells like poop."

She laughed, holding him close so his nose would be buried between her breasts, "it's because you were changing his diaper!" She wasn't able to see him, but she felt his lips crack into a smile as she buried his face between her soft, pale globes of flesh.

"Whenever I hold him," he spoke slow and languidly, "he smells like poop."

"It means he is strong and healthy," she giggled. "Your hold must be doing wonders for his gut health."

He smiled, a half smirk begrudging smile, but still a smile.

He liked hearing that he was being a good father. In whatever shape or form.

Even if it meant feeling the need to dry heave in the bathroom everytime.

Hinata's giggle settled comfortably into silence.

Then she suggested,

"Tomorrow, we should take Fugaku out for his first snow day!"

He asked her, "When are you out from work?

"Five."

It would be best if he picks up Fugaku from the nursery himself instead. "Then l'll wait for you with Fugaku at the playground."

She smiled brightly. "Okay."

* * *

The sun was out, making the peoples' eyes hurt by the sunlight radiating off from the blindingly white snow. Sasuke glared at the sunlit snow as he left his shop.

It has snowed the entire day before, and it hasn't snowed since. But the cold weather they had for two days was keeping the snow from melting too fast. Sasuke was amazed by how much snow was still left. He was pretty tall but his foot would be buried ankle deep in the pile of snow.

Sasuke was donned in a aero-pilot style leather jacket that one of his old customers at his tailor shop ended up not retrieving at all. It would be a waste to throw away a perfectly altered leather article because of a forgetful owner. So Sasuke just claimed it himself. He slung a grey knitted winter hat over his dark, messy hair and headed to the local nursery where Fugaku would be waiting for him.

He slid open the door to the local nursery, and the ladies all turned and couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the adult version of Fugaku.

Those long legs, well developed torso, broad shoulders, and on top of that a timeless face with porcelain skin and feathery dark hair. The cold set lips and smoldering eyes with suspiciously darting orbs still set women into a dazed trance.

He looked down at a short lady who seemed to be the principal of the nursery. In a low, favorably husky voice, he introduced himself as Fugaku's father and asked for his son.

The principal blushed, as well as the rest of the ladies, including some of the babies' mothers. They cannot help but appreciate the presence of Fugaku's father who stood out from the rest of the male population, even the young bachelors, in their village. He has this aura that sets him apart from the civilian men they knew.

Also it was not often the crowd-shy tailor would come out into the open, without his wife. Some would wonder what such a gorgeous man was doing with such a frumpy wife with plain tastes. His wife's manners were shy and sweet, but not refined or dignified like the fashionable upper class ladies. She wore unflattering shoes and wasn't good at touching her hair. She was on the short and plump side, and to be honest, the villagers were at first spooked by her pale pupils that seemed to be merged with her pallor.

When a shyly blushing young woman came with his son in her arms, he continued looking down at the baby with a stoic demeanor.

Fugaku was clung like a koala to the young lady's arm, but when he saw his father, his grey eyes started to light up and he reached out his tiny hand to him. An unexpectedly quite exuberant expression of delight from the serious baby.

With his mama, it was expected that she would come for him, but his papa was an exception.

But the father passively looked down at his son without making a gesture to hold him like his mother. It was his first time claiming his son from the nursery. Baby Fugaku stared up to him, not quite sure what his father was doing there. Both the father and son were terribly confused even if they don't show it in the open.

Finally, Sasuke held his son, adjusting him so his plump rear would sit snugly on the crook of his elbow. With his son in his arm, he signed up the papers and they left the nursery.

When the door all closed, the ladies all let out a little melancholy sigh.

"Hinata san is one lucky girl," a child's mother spoke dreamily.

"Ha!" Another young mother snorted, "he doesn't look manly enough. Definitely not my type."

"Hmm- didn't you just ask Fugaku's father about arranging a play date for Fugaku and Yume chan?"

Yume's mother blushed a deep crimson.

"And talking about manly, have you heard of the story about the daimyo's son?"

"Why, that was even before Fugaku was born."

"Way before. About...three years ago, the Uchihas were newly weds. Enjoying their honeymoon."

"And before Uchiha san came to our village, the daimyo's sons were such a nightmare."

"Why, they're bad already! Can't do the tax money justice."

"Oh, they were worse!"

Then the door slid open abruptly and Sasuke was leaning his hand on the door sill, panting. The ladies quickly shut their mouths.

He was holding his son like a luggage by his waist. Fugaku was busily sucking his round fist with an innocent look in his big eyes, unaware of the catastrophe he has created for his father.

Sasuke pursed his lips and tried to muster as much dignity as he said "may we use the bathroom, please?"

The ladies looked at Fugaku and to his blushing, agitated father.

With understanding looks, they ushered Sasuke to the changing room.

XxX

They finally got to the playground. It was just too much drama in the nursery for Sasuke. A lot of women were giving him flirtatious looks, even mothers of babies he knew through Hinata. One even had the audacity to ask if he could 'measure' her assets because she needs to go lingerie shopping. He bluntly referred her to a female tailor in the town, but she wouldn't quit. It was disturbing. Thanks to Fugaku's case of being a stinky rose, he had to go back to the nursery. The women were offering to give him a hand at changing the diaper, but Sasuke refused.

After efficiently dumping his soiled diaper and wiping his bum, Sasuke got Fugaku and himself out of there. As he left, he hoped Hinata wasn't too close with any of the ladies who went there.

Otherwise, everything seemed to be going well for Fugaku's first snow day.

Fugaku was wearing chunky knitted ugg style boots and a blue snow jacket and pants. Covering his head was a knit hat with bear cub ears.

Father and son were waiting for Hinata in the empty playground. The kids were more excited to play snow fights or go sledding so the playground was quite deserted. Sasuke appreciated the quietness. He didn't particularly like children. He saw them as noisy and obnoxious.

Awkwardly standing by the swings, Sasuke asked solemnly.

"Fugaku."

The little baby turned his eyes up to his father in question.

Sasuke broke the silence.

"Why are you so poopy when you're with me?"

Fugaku continued to stare up to his papa with his sweet, crystalline eyes women would gush over. Then he became decidedly indifferent to his father's genuine grievances and turned away and sucked on his yummy fist. His tiny chubby fingers were soon shining with saliva.

"Stop sucking," his father frowned, a deep scowl sharpening his eyes, "here." Sasuke produced a light green pacifier from his pouch and stuck it into Fugaku's mouth.

As soon as his mouth sucked on the pacifier, Fugaku's eyes closed and he bowed his tiny head.

Not even flutterig his eyelashes, Fugaku went out like a snap of fingers.

His fingers that were gripped in a fist loosened slack and his short legs went limp, dangling in the air.

"Fugaku?!" Sasuke accidentally raised his voice.

He cupped his son's plump cheek, "Fugaku?" Did his son just pass out after biting on his paci? What was his paci—some tranquilizer? "Fugaku, wake up!"

But there was his son, slightly opening his grey eyes as he busily suckled on his paci for life. To Sasuke's surprise and bemusement, his baby son gave him a slightly irritated glare as if he didn't approve of his father making such a big fuss.

Sasuke felt a little embarrassed. A slight color of red suffused his face.

"Ha" Sasuke released his grip on Fugaku's face. "I don't know where you got that bad temper from."

Not even pretending to listen, Fugaku shut his eyes again and settled himself in a relaxing state.

Sasuke huffed, "and that arrogant attitude."

" _Anata~"_

Sasuke turned to see the one face he was dying to see, especially after the exhausting ordeal with changing Fugaku's diaper and dealing with the chattering, overexcited ladies in the nursery.

It seemed as if angel wings were sprouting from his little wife's back as she approached them with a bright smile on her face.

"Anata, did you wait for a long time?"

"No," he replied brusquely.

"Is our baby asleep?" Hinata looked into the face of her baby and looked as if Sasuke had the world in his hands.

Fugaku's closed eyelids had a delicate blue vein showing through the thin, translucent skin. His cheeks busily moved as he sucked on his paci, but otherwise he looked fast asleep.

"No, his mouth is moving," Sasuke pointed to the busily moving cheeks.

Hinata smiled, "he is half asleep. He does that when I feed him too."

He non-committedly hummed, "so he eats and sleeps." He imagined Hinata nursing Fugaku who is relaxing as he suckled on her milky teat. ' It must be nice,' he mused.

Unaware of the rather inappropriate thoughts he was having, she giggled, "Yes, that's a baby's job. Eating while sleeping."

Looking down at his wife, Sasuke wondered how in the world Hinata could be always so excited and enthralled with their baby. Sure, he loved his son, but surly there must be times when she would want a break. It would help if she takes a break from thinking her baby is the center of her universe or some angel-sent gift from God. Literally, she would look at him as if he was a living, breathing treasure 24/7. It was rather unrealistic.

He was slightly worried that she would overly coddle their child and spoil him rotten with her lavish affection.

"Hinata," Sasuke spoke up, "Fugaku is burdensome." He spoke bluntly. He didn't feel that way right now, but he wanted to see what her reaction will be like.

Hinata stared at him. _Monster-_ her eyes seemed to say.

His wife would gasp at his accusations of her being a blindly adoring mother. In her eyes, her three month old baby could do no wrong. He just wasn't capable of any evil.

"Then I will hold him!" She stretched out her arms, but Sasuke walked past her.

She continued begging to hold him like a little girl, but he told her no and insisted on holding the child himself.

"Please, anata, can I please hold him?"

When he responded with nothing,she crossed her arms, "how could you be so cruel to such angel?"

Then it was his time to gasp. Him, cruel? Did she forget who he used to be? Also, he was the one who had to take his son's attitude when he realizes that it was his walking ice block dad, not his soft, cuddly mother who smells like milk who came for him.

It was abundantly clear who Fugaku's favorite was, but here he was, out of fatherly duty, changing his poopy diapers, mixing his formula, and carrying him like an emperor everywhere they go.

Looking at his expression of disbelief, she smiled, "But of course, I couldn't beat Fugaku's love for you. He always looks for you, did you know?"

She spoke soothingly, to placate her husband's pouting.

A corner of Sasuke's mouth lifted in a cynical smirk. He looked down at his son. Meanwhile, Fugaku had opened his translucent grey eyes and he was staring up at his father.

"Oh, look! See, Fugaku loves you~" she cooed. Her voice was adoring and full of love.

'Fugaku...loves me?' Sasuke wondered and glanced down at his son.

But despite Hinata's cooing, he wasn't so sure if his son's look was necessarily a look of 'love.' In fact, Fugaku looked rather disapproving, his puffed up cheeks snugly placed against the round paci, his fuzzy brows snapped in a frown told him all.

But blind to the dirty look on her baby's face, Hinata kept cooing, "Fugaku loves you~" Sasuke could almost snort. As if Hinata professing his son's pure love would make it reality. Meanwhile, his son who "oh so loves him" was narrowing his glittering eyes at him as in warning. But Sasuke decided that the incongruity was cute.

"Fugaku loves you~"

Then Fugaku's ears perked up as he heard his dear mama's soft voice. His brows lifted as he turned his eyes to his mama, and he lifted his tiny hands up towards her. His tiny, stubby fingers moved slowly in want. His wet grey eyes glistened in hope, _Mama, I love you. Please hold me._

But the sadistic side of Sasuke couldn't let his duplicitous son have his way, so he swayed Fugaku to and fro in his arms and kept walking.

Again, Fugaku's brows knitted in disapproval at his father. Then he huffed and started moving his tiny hands up towards him, as if to grab his father's face. His tiny fingers twitched and the baby grunted, but it was all in vain. But his son still tried.

Sasuke smirked. It amused him greatly that this little runt of a son was daring to challenge him. The little baby must already be feeling possessive of his mother.

In the baby's eyes, Sasuke was a cruel obstacle to mama's love.

"You can't grab me," Sasuke taunted, being immature for his age and fatherhood "your arms are too short." He whispered.

"Urgh!" His son fiercely grunted and kept reaching for his father's arrogant, smirking face. His round face was turning red in frustration.

But Sasuke was having a ball of his son's frustration. In fact, he liked his son's spirit. He would be a great warrior.

When Hinata saw Sasuke's retreating back, she smiled.

"He's definitely a daddy's boy," she sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: There was a hostage situation right next door to where I worked yesterday. I was so traumatized that I didn't know what to do. But thankfully, I survived as well as my beloved coworkers. And nobody was injured. Hallelujah.

I also updated Ch. 32 in Waker's Pearl. Better lemons, but you don't have to read. Just wanted to let some of you who liked wp know.

Warning: Mature (M rated) for violence and implied attempted sexual assault

* * *

This was a story that happened three years ago about a young tailor and his wife.

Three years ago, as far as the Waterfall villagers were concerned, the Uchihas were just newly weds who were trying their best to build their nest in their remote, humble village.

The husband was tall, and the wife was pretty. The Uchiha male was exceptionally looking, with a unique atmosphere about him. His wife was generous with her smiles and had a soft, pleasant tongue. And they had nothing on them-no money, property, or even any hint of where they came from. The villagers thought that these good looking, penniless couple will soon leave for the city life like most young folks.

But because the couple made their living with integrity, never went to the money lenders, paid their taxes, and mostly kept to themselves, they earned their reputation as honest, good, young people.

Uchiha tilled gravel-ridden soil at day and mended his clients' clothes in his basement at night.

With the money he earned in thirteen months, he finally opened his tailor and alterations shop in a bigger Waterfall city, downtown. His wife taught gardening and painting to the children and the elderly. She devoted her spare time to helping her husband's small business, ironing the clothes and buying thread and fabric. Outside of work, they liked dining out and watching the fireflies at night. Even though they were quiet, calm people, there was something about them-a spark-that captured other people's' attention when they walked through the crowd.

But alas, their happiness seemed short-lived. Because it didn't take long for one of the Waterfall daimyo's sons to spot the tailor's wife.

The daimyo's youngest son was hunting in the forest, and he saw the Uchiha woman with the other women of the village, dipping their feet in the cold pond, chatting and laughing.

Because it was fairly common for nobles to go out hunting in the forest, Hinata didn't care at all. She glanced at the man who was staring at her like a lost soul, and like the other ladies, lightly bowed her head and left in order to not bother his hunting. But the daimyo's youngest son fell deeply in love for her. He detained one of the women and asked about the maiden with long blue black hair and white eyes, and he was disappointed to hear that she was married.

When he went back to the palace, his brothers mocked him for looking so blue and glum after his hunt. But when the youngest son told his brothers about the fairy in the forest, surrounded by ugly, homely village women, and how she was married, they took immediate interest.

So they sent the messengers almost everyday, along with a decent sized infantry to force the married couple apart if needed.

But the tailor's wife always managed to get her and her husband out of the daimyo's army's sight. The villagers were amazed. It was as if the Uchiha woman was able to see miles away.

When the daimyo's eldest son threw a fit over his messenger's incompetence, the messenger wailed, "My lord, but the tailor is no ordinary man. I've never seen him in person, but they say that he is 7 ft tall, breathes out fire, and can kill beasts just by looking at them alone. Some even say that he is more than a hundred years old but looks like a young man."

The eldest son threw a jade spitoon on the messenger's head, "Stop blaming your incompetence on such country rumors! I have made a bet with my gold that I will have the woman in the court by the end of this week. Now we only have three days!"

"My lord, how about separating the husband from his wife?"

"How?"

The messenger whispered something into the eldest son's ear.

* * *

This time, a messenger from the daimyo sent a hawk with a letter to the mountain village.

The chief of the town received the hawk and sent the letter to the Uchihas.

Sasuke opened the letter and perused the content. Hinata was hovering in the corner of the crafts shop, wondering why the daimyo was so obsessed with getting in touch with them.

He was sitting on his wooden stool. His dark brows furrowed as he looked at the letter.

"What is it, Sasuke?" she approached him and laid her soft hand on his shoulder.

After a pause, he answered. "The daimyo wants me to design a new anbu uniform for the Waterfall."

Her face immediately brightened, "Oh, isn't that a great opportunity?" Relief washed over her face. She was getting anxious by the troops the daimyo was sending. If it was a simple commission, there was nothing to worry about. But when she saw how he still remained serious, she furrowed her brows, "Sasuke…"

She dug her nails onto the palms of her hands.

Her husband frowned at her bad habit and snatched her hand and spread her fingers apart.

"They want me to design it in the anbu's office...which is at the border of the Fire Country."

She stared at him in disbelief. She raised her voice, "Why can't they let you work here?"

But soon she realized. Anything about the anbu was strictly confidential. There might be concern about leaking the anbu's secrets.

She pressed on her thumping heart. She thought that if she and Sasuke lived as regular folks, they won't need to live in danger. How wrong she was.

She asked him, "Th-then...how long would you be away, anata?"

He closed his eyes, "I don't know."

She bowed her head. Her hands clasped to her chest. "Ca-can...I follow you?" She asked with a trembling voice.

Sasuke turned to her and raised his eyebrow at her. But she couldn't bring herself to look at him fully in the face. There was a softness in his gaze. He was not a sentimental person but the moment Hinata asked if she could follow him, he had this warm, fuzzy feeling in his gut. It wasn't often Hinata would express her feelings in such a vulnerable way. He knew how his wife, though soft and delicate looking, hated being vulnerable.

They spent the night together. Hinata was especially teary eyed, and her husband did his best to comfort her.

The next morning before the sunrise, when it was still dawn, he had to leave. Hinata saw him off the village gate. Because they didn't know for how long he would be away, they took longer to say good bye than usual.

"I'll come as soon as I can." He said quietly.

Hinata couldn't say anything more. She knew her husband meant every word, and he'll prove with his actions that he will do everything in his ability to come back as soon as he can.

"The anbu is a dangerous world." She spoke with sorrow.

He didn't say anything in return. Suddenly, Hinata became full of resentment.

She didn't know why she was being so emotional and unreasonable. But her husband's refusal to make blind promises was grating on her. "Anata! Can't you even promise me that you'll be safe no matter what?"

"You know I can't-"

She glared at him. He quickly shut his mouth. To be honest, he didn't know why she was being angry. But he knew better than to upset Hinata.

Then finally he grabbed her arm and pulled her to his chest. Her nose hit his rock hard pecs, and she started tearing up, thinking, against her will, how warm and cozy his chest was. It was his cheap trick that he does whenever Hinata was upset or mad at him.

Hinata sighed and buried her face into his chest. The daimyo's messenger chastened them that they were taking too much time, so Sasuke had to leave.

* * *

It was nine days since he had left her alone in their house.

The daimyo's men didn't permit her to visit him at all and sent her away when she came close to the region. They finally promised to send her husband her letters and little packages, but she still didn't get any reply.

'He must be busy,' she told herself. 'But he still could have sent just one letter. Just one.'

"Why did I marry such a man…" She sighed as she scattered her homemade fertilizer over her little home garden.

She grumbled as she pulled out the weeds with unexpected ferocity, "stubborn...can't figure out a woman's heart to save his life...Only pretending to care when I yell at him…"

She didn't want to be a clingy wife, but something about the daimyo's orders irked her. She got a bad feeling.

She has been hearing rumors that the Waterfall aristocracy were extracting talented people from villages and forcing them to work as slaves. She was hoping that her husband won't provoke the aristocrats' ire and cause massive damage.

She went in the house and tossed her soiled gardener gloves on the table with little care. She slumped on the chair in front of the dining table. She seemed to see her tall, dark haired husband silently eating his food, but then he was gone. She felt tears rise to her eyes.

"Nine days and not a word…" she rubbed her left eye, "for how long do I have to wait, anata? I miss you..."

Suddenly she heard a knock at the door.

She rose quickly. In a second, she was at the door and she opened the door wide without bothering to ask who it was, "Sasuke?"

But the light in her eyes vanished as soon as she noticed that it was just the Waterfall daimyo's messenger.

She made an unsmiling bow. She blamed the Waterfall nobility for her current unhappiness.

When the messenger informed her of the news regarding her husband though, she followed the messenger to the daimyo's palace without any hesitation.

* * *

It was late at night when Sasuke entered a shoddily constructed tent that served as a pub for the anbus.

The night was cold, and he was wearing a long dark cloak. He drew up the tent fold and entered the rowdy pub. A firewood was lit in the middle of the tent. The smoke rose, escaping through the air hole on the top.

A high pitched shriek greeted him, "Oh, it's handsome~"

"Handsome? He's back?"

Prostitutes who were clinging to the anbu guards all abandoned their lovers and rushed to him.

They eyed him flirtatously, and some even had the audacity to cling to his arm or pretend to collapse on him by accident and rub their breasts against him. The tailor never even spared them a glance, but they just saw him as a challenge.

The anbu guards who suddenly became alone with their drinks glared at him with hostility.

Sasuke managed to keep a straight face despite the ongoing sexual harassment and walked up to the seat he knew where the Waterfall anbu captain was going to be.

As the anbu captain's mistress just left him to snuggle up to the tailor, he was in a bad mood.

"You're done?" the captain grumbled.

Sasuke nodded, "yes." Then he pulled out the expertly folded garment and placed it on the captain's hands.

The captain wrung the garment that was supposed to be the uniform of top mission ninjas for the Waterfall country as if it was some nasty rag. He sniffed and made a grimace.

Sasuke's brows knitted in distaste, seeing how the captain had absolutely no regard for his mission.

 _Pppenng-_

Then the captain blew his nose on the uniform.

All the men guffawed, except Sasuke whose eyes widened by a fraction.

The captain grinned. Then he tossed the garment into the pile of fire.

Sasuke watched in silence-the garment that the orange fire slowly nibbled on, turning it black.

"Do it again." The captain waved his hand as if chasing off a pesky fly.

Sasuke stood for a second. Then he watched the captain.

The captain glanced at him. Then he barked, "Didn't you hear me, commoner? Make it again!"

Sasuke squeezed his gloved fists tight. Then finally he bowed his head. And left the tent.

When the men saw the tent flap closing, they all erupted in racuous laughter. They slapped each other's backs.

One of the prostitutes sighed, "Poor pretty boy...He has been working and getting rejected for so many times."

Another prostitute made a sly smile, "But that means we get to see him again and again."

An anbu guard barked, "Stupid women. Going after F* looks."

"You can't say that!" she screamed.

"He's crazy stupid," another guard spat into the fire, "He knows that the captain hates him and doing it out of spite."

"Isn't it weird though? He didn't eat or sleep for a week, but has been working on the uniform. And he got rejected. But he doesn't even seem to mind."

"It's because he is a f*in coward."

"I could knock him over in one punch."

"He doesn't have the balls to fight any of us. "

"Doesn't hurt to be careful though. It's the quiet ones who usually go off and do crazy things."

Hearing the last guard's comment, the captain sipped on his drink as in deep thought. His men were right. The tailor was calm. Too calm. But there was something about his eyes…

Suddenly a blood red eye and a light purple eye with rings seemed to seize his mind.

A cold chill ran down his spine, and the anbu captain suddenly felt constipated.

He gulped on his drink. It must be his nerves…

* * *

Hinata covered her mouth and tried to calm her palpitating heart.

"Your husband is being tried for treason. He is currently being interrogated by the anbu forces in the palace."

When she asked what her husband could have possibly done, the messenger told her that it was not her place to ask for details. He only said that her husband was 'insubordinate' and caused 'chaos' for the anbus' order.

When they reached the palace gates, she badly wanted to activate her byakugan to see her husband.

But the way the female guards were eying her without even a moment of respite, even when she had to relieve herself in private, made her hesitant to disclose her identity as a byakugan user.

Her husband was being unfairly framed for treason. Having a byakugan user as his wife won't do him any good.

When she entered the court to see the daimyo himself, she was confused by the line of smiling court ladies who gathered to her and ushered her to the bathhouse.

"You can't see the daimyos' sons at this state!" a lady with plump cheeks and grey hair barked, "You shall wash, be perfumed with oil, and see the daimyo's sons."

"Am I not seeing the daimyo himself?" she asked as they led her naked body to the wooden tub full of hot water and jasmine petals.

As a middle aged maid poured water over her dark hair, she said, "The daimyo is old so he hasn't been working at all. So his four sons have been rulers."

"Oh…" Hinata wasn't into politics too much. Maybe she should now. She then asked a maid who was scrubbing her pale arm with a gonjak sponge, "when can I see my husband?"

The maid avoided Hinata's eyes and left after doing her job of exfoliating Hinata's fair skin.

The head maid then looked down at her haughtily, "You may later ask the young lords, but now you must focus on looking presentable. The young lords are vain and concerned with looks, so if you look like a common peasant wife, they won't deign to listen to you. They think peasants smell."

At the head maid's words, Hinata quickly shut her mouth. And she obediently kept her silence as a maid dried and combed her long hair. The others applied goat milk emulsion made with dried mandarin zest on her skin with silken gloves.

Hinata frowned through the procedure. She wondered if all commoners had to bath and beautify themselves before entering the court in the palace.

'Maybe the daimyo's sons are a bunch of idle dandies,' she thought as the maids dressed her in a light pink gown. A maid placed a blue jade hair pin the shape of a pine shrub on the side of her ear, 'Or they could be gay.'

Hinata knew she was being stereotypical, but she just couldn't fathom why she had to go through such procedure when all she wanted was to plead for her husband's innocence.

The messenger and the maids finally came to take her to be in the audience of the daimyo's sons.

Hinata entered the opulent inner court hall. She didn't have time to marvel at the opulence of the court because right away she prostrated herself before the daimyo. She bowed her head before the daimyo and knelt before him. She placed her forehead gently above her hands placed on the marble floor.

The large door closed behind her. Then she saw a pair of suade boots in front of her.

She heard a young, slightly whiny sounding man's voice above her, "raise your face."

* * *

The anbu captain didn't expect the tailor to visit his main tent in the middle of the day.

"What brings you here?" he answered gruffly.

He noticed how the tailor's dark eyes were rimmed with purplish shadows, and he looked sharper and tense.

Sasuke's dark eyes looked at the captain piercingly, "I made the clothes according to your criteria, but I am still being rejected."

"So?" The anbu captain flipped through his reports.

He narrowed his eyes at the captain coldly, "I ask to be dismissed."

The captain snorted, "You're not going anywhere."

"I'm a tailor and I did my best to accommodate your demands." He retorted stiffly. "There's no point in detaining me here if you're going to keep rejecting my work."

The captain said flippantly, "Then maybe you should try harder."

Sasuke's fists squeezed again. Then he turned around. He shot him a look of despise over his shoulder, "I shall take my leave. As I didn't satisfy you, I won't receive any payment."

 _Clang_ -

But two anbus with long swords suddenly blocked his way out of the tent. Sasuke's eyes widened and he whirled around to demand a good answer as to why they were keeping him there.

The captain drawled, "Where do you think you are going? Do you think a mere commoner could walk out of the anbu camp like it's some grocery store?"

Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth, "I'm going home."

The captain blinked at first and then laughed. The anbu guards who came out from the shadows all sniggered. Some of them parroted Sasuke's words, "I'm going home. Wah~wah~"

The captain then snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah, that reminds me!" He then looked at Sasuke with a vicious smile, "you have a cute peasant wife waiting for you, don't you?"

He went on without looking at Sasuke's face. "Gosh, if the daimyo's sons didn't have the hots for her, I would've loved to pay her a visit." He laughed gluttonously, drowning the sound of Sasuke's footsteps.

"Maybe if they get tired of having fun with her, I get to have a chance hahahaha-"

But the captain's laughter started to dissipate when he felt his body overwhelmed by a cold, dark shadow.

When he finally came to his senses, he looked up and saw a tall, dark figure with no features except a swirling blood red eye and a light purple eye with ringlets.

The ominous figure stared him down and a voice that sounded inhuman resonated in the air, "What did you just say?"

* * *

"Pl-please...sp-spare me…" The captain begged as his eyes were bleeding and he was swamped in a pool of blood of his comrades. He has been going through what felt like hours of hell, and he was not even sure if the man before him was a human or a devil.

Sasuke stepped forward, and the man balked and shriveled to the corner.

Having got all the information he wanted, Sasuke cooly whipped the blood out of his sword he got from his victims. It was a pity, he thought. He dearly wanted to be the bigger and better man, but the low-lives weren't making it easy at all. He thought he left behind his previous life of 'excitement,' but he felt the adrenaline rush of battle fill the every fibre of his being.

He would enjoy torturing the captain more for the hours of sleepless nights and work stress, but right now he had a place to go and his wife to see.

So he raised the sword above his head and in a slash ended his final victim's life.

* * *

As he raced through the hallways of the daimyo's residence, he kept hearing loud muffled shouts of men in a certain direction. He didn't even stop by his house to get kusanagi. He just rushed to the daimyo's palace with a pulled out sword like a mad man. His eyes were crazed. He was biding his time to castrate the daimyos as soon as he gets there.

He threw open the wide doors, and he almost forgot how to breath at the sight.

At the far corner of the court yard, his wife was waving a kunai clutched in her trembling hands. She was wearing a pink dress, but the upper bodice part and the skirt was torn. It was obvious the poor state of her dress was due to rough hands not an accident. She had scars all over her fair arms, decollage area, and even on her neck. She was trembling, and her eyes were fixed on the four men in front of her, holding weapons of all sort.

"Hinata!"

She flinched. There was only one person who could call her by that name, without a suffix.

"Sa...Sasuke?"

She turned her eyes to the direction of his voice. Her hands dropped the kunai and it fell with a clanging sound on the marble floor, "Sasuke!"

In a second, they were in each other's arms. He felt her trembling in his arms as she buried her face into his chest, "Sasuke, Sasuke…" She kept whispering his name could tell by her state that she was barely holding out on her own.

He squeezed her tightly in his arms and buried his lips onto her pale neck, inhaling her scent. Inhaling her scent kept his rapidly beating heart calm.

But the daimyo's eldest son interrupted their emotional reunion.

He pointed at Hinata, "That witch just numbed me!" He screamed and then pointed to his junk. "I should have known from her eyes!"

"She numbed me too!" The second screamed as he covered his junk with both hands. The remaining two were silent as they cupped their treasuresin shame.

Sasuke looked at them unimpressed as ever. It seemed his wife beat him to castrating the men himself.

Sasuke placed both of his hands on Hinata's shoulders. He looked into her eyes, "It will just take a minute." He assured her gently as he placed his hand on her cheek. She grinned like a little girl, but her hair was disheveled and her cuts needed to be treated badly. He smiled painfully back. It pained him to see her with her clothes torn and lovely skin marred with scars. But she looked happy, as if all that mattered to her was seeing him alive and well. He began to regret bitterly. If only he came back earlier, he would've kept this from happening.

He grabbed both of her hands and placed them above her eyes. "Stay like this," he ordered.

As she covered both of her eyes with her hands, she nodded. He smiled at her child-like gesture.

Then he turned to the daimyo's sons. "You did this." His eyes turned cold and hot at the same time, like holding black fire.

He approached them, the soles of his heavy boots resonated in the empty court hall.

The tall, big four men all cowered at the strange, ominous energy radiating from the man who was a bit shorter than them.

Before any of them could even shout of help, Sasuke placed his hand over the closest son's face and blew him up.

For each of the daimyo's sons, he settled on the same execution end-point-implosion, but used different methods. At some point, Hinata heard the sound of chidori and then blood-curdling screams and begging for mercy.

Then everything fell silent.

Hinata flinched when she felt a warm touch on her hands that were covering her eyes.

"Hinata."

He peeled her hands from her eyes, and her eyes were filled with the loving face of her husband.

He suddenly lifted her bridal style, "are you okay?"

Hinata was startled by how he suddenly lifted her up.

He marched forward, "You're not okay, are you? We're going home."

And they hurriedly left the scene of horror.

* * *

"Ow!"

Hinata yelped when Sasuke applied some medicine paste on the scratch on her cheek.

They were back at home. Sasuke placed a spatial jutsu on their house, so nobody could find their whereabouts.

Hinata was sitting on the chair, and Sasuke was kneeling before her on the floor, applying ointment on her scars.

He muttered as he closed the lid over the jar, "Nothing better than good old tiger balm."

When he kept applying the pungent, stinging ointment on the scars on her fair hands, she whined, "Why do you have to use tiger balm? My other medicine works just as fine."

He shot an angry look at her, "That is what you get for not telling me that you've seen the daimyo's men coming after us. Why didn't you tell me? Do you not trust me enough?"

This time, Hinata kept her mouth shut.

Sasuke raised his voice as he clawed through his thick, black hair in exasperation, "Hinata, that was stupid. You're smart, that's a fact, but it was stupid to see them and not tell me."

"I didn't want to worry you...a-and I thought they just meant to give you an important mission."

She felt her voice choking, "Ple-please don't get mad." Her bottom lip started quivering.

He stared at her for a moment, speechless. Then he hugged her tight. "Don't cry, Hinata. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

He held her tightly, "I'm sorry. So don't cry."

That night, Hinata promised Sasuke that she will let him know everything-even the most seemingly insignificant things. And Sasuke promised that he won't be away from home for more than a week ever again.

* * *

Three years later, so much has changed. Sasuke refused to meet the majority of his clients in person, only interacting with them through birds. He only accepted business trips that lasted a week at most and at an inordinate amount of commission money. Hinata gave birth to their son, Fugaku, and had to turn to part time teaching.

One night, after tucking her baby boy at bed, Hinata was being especially affectionate and romantic towards Sasuke.

On their bed, she was wrapping her smooth, fleshy arms around his neck and covered his lips and sharp jawline and strong neck with kisses. Sounds of lips pecking on skin filled the bedroom. Sasuke gritted his teeth as if he was trying to suppress something within him. His wife wasn't making it any easier with her passionate, soft kisses. Her kisses weren't calculating moves to get him to relinquish his power but pure expression of love she had for her husband.But because she was acting out of pure, spontaneous desire, it turned him on even more.

She murmured between her soft, slow kisses, "anata...darling." Her eyes were half opened and her pouty lips looked even more amorous by the lamp light. He swallowed.

He looked down at his wife. She was definitely in a mood tonight. It was refreshing to see his usually shy wife be the one to passionately initiate the kisses. Usually she would let him lead the way, but tonight she wanted to share how much she loved him.

Post pregnancy was doing wonders to her beauty. Her skin was softer, and she had a rosy hue in her complexion, and she was slightly plumper than she used to be, her curves dipping and swelling in a way that gave him pleasure. She didn't look like a girl. She was a woman. Her cheeks were plump and dewy, and he would often sink his teeth lightly on her cheeks, just to hear her slight squeal and giggles.

"Sa-Sasuke-" she giggled when he playfully nipped on her cheek, "st-stop-"

Out of nowhere, he looked at her straight in the eyes.

He lowered his voice, "Nobody bothered you today, I hope."

Her eyes widened, "hm?" She didn't understand what he meant by being 'bothered.' Three years of peace had dulled her senses of danger.

Sasuke kept staring at her as she became puzzled over what he might've been saying.

Suddenly, a dark storm cast over his features. His dark eyes sharpened into a glare and his full, sculpted lips turned sullen. Then his lips curved into a bitter smile.

"Sasuke?"Her sweet voice tried to pull him from his reveries.

The grimace on his face still remained.

She wondered why her husband was suddenly dead silent.

She raised herself on her elbows,

"Is something wrong?"

Her breasts fell as she propped herself up, accentuating the curve of her waist.

Suddenly he grabbed her round shoulders and pushed her down on the big pillow.

"Ah!" Hinata grunted as she felt her naked back hit the soft mattress.

He hovered over her as she stared at him wide-eyed. Her dark blue hair splayed over the pillow and her shoulders and breasts. She was not in pain, as it was usual for Sasuke to be rough and dominant in his love making. She was just surprised by the sudden shift in his mood.

"Anymore daimyo's sons?" he sneered.

Then Hinata went "ah!" So that was the thing that was bothering him—she thought.

She shook her head, "no, husband. Nobody bothered me." She reached out her fair hand and stroked his face, attempt to placate his wrath.

Her soothing touches softened the edge of his fury.

He spoke pensively, "Living as an ordinary man. It was something I didn't even dare to dream of."

Her eyes widened. Then her brows furrowed as she saw how the weight of his past made him guilty about his current happiness. She didn't want him to be guilty. He might have been a bad man in the past, no doubt, but he paid for his past deeds. He was doing his best to be a good father, a good husband. She couldn't ask for more.

"But sometimes I want to go and make a name for myself." He stated.

She frowned. She didn't know Sasuke to be a vain man. But then, perhaps he missed the rush he gets when he has people bowing to him on their knees. Personally, she didn't understand the reason so many nins pine for glory and exceptional social standing. She was happy as Sasuke's wife and an ordinary villager who works part time as a local teacher. And now she has the new meaning of her life-her son, Fugaku. But then, she knew that it is human nature to desire what is beyond one's reach. She wouldn't begrudge him for wanting to go after fame and wealth when he has the capacity to achieve both.

She asked as she looked up to his unwavering eyes, "How often is that, Sasuke?" If he wanted to start a new life as a feudal lord, she would do her best to persuade him against it. She can't even dream of losing her husband again and the quiet, sweet man behind the cold exterior.

His answer surprised her, "Whenever a noble covets you."

She blushed. Then she separated her hand that was stroking his cheek as if she was touching fire. Her husband caught her hand and pressed her palm gingerly against his cheek again.

He used to wonder why some men would approach his wife even when it is abundantly clear that she was off limits. Most women her age were married in this quaint, old fashioned mountain village. She had a simple platinum band on her finger that symbolized their sacred union. She would be holding Fugaku, the one being who would always hold their bond together. But seeing her like this, her peachy breasts, the dip of her belly button, wide hips, and on top of that, a face with eyes of a doe, he began to see that it was the baseness of human desire behind it all.

He wondered. If Hinata was another man's wife, would he covet her just like the other men? He couldn't imagine Hinata being another man's wife. He wouldn't allow it without a good fight.

He uttered quietly, as to himself. "The desire to take another man's wife. The desire to sleep with a beautiful woman." His long lashes lowered, casting a dark shadow as he reflected on the depravity of human nature.

"Sasuke," she held her husband's face between her hands, "You're not like those men. They're evil, and it was not our fault they took advantage of us." She looked at him dead in the eyes. "What matters is that we are both safe and we have each other." Then she smiled brightly, "And we have our Fugaku!"

Sasuke looked at her quietly. For a moment, he was simply looking at her.

"Sasuke?" she asked. "What are your thoughts?"

He finally answered with a smile,

"Seeing you like this...reminds me of the times I had a crush on you."

Seeing her like this reminded him when he was just a boy, having a huge crush on a woman who was mature beyond her years. He wanted her like crazy.

"I...oh..." She blushed.

Then she mustered the courage to speak.

"Sa-Sasuke, I want to make you happy."

She pulled up the blanket to her breasts, "You're the one who always tried to make me happy, so I want to do that for you."

She looked at him,

"Is there anything...you'd like me to do?"

He stared at her. Then he buried his nose between her breasts and took in a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

He then murmured, "You already make me happy."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I was reading the comments about how my readers were sad about Fugaku growing up too fast. I soon felt that way too and decided to write more about baby Fugaku!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Long time ago, there was a boy who lived on his own. He was strong minded, but very lonely."

A pair of sheer pink lips talked about a story long time ago.

Her listener blinked his large grey eyes and sucked on his tiny beach ball toy. Hinata just loved looking at how Fugaku's dark, fuzzy eyebrows would furrow in concentration. His eyebrows looked like tiny wisps of black clouds on his tiny, round face. And his dark grey eyes were so big and serious that he looked so cute in her eyes. And his nose was so flat his profile looked funny and munchkin-like.

"One day, he saw a bright light shooting down at a mountain, and he followed."

Hinata was draining the hot water from the rice noodles as she told her baby son a story.

Today's dish was simple-stir fried flat noodles. Slightly spicy. Just the way Sasuke liked it.

"If it's for our anata~, I could cook anything~" she sang lightly. She was temporarily distracted from her story telling.

The baby was playing in the living room that was connected to the kitchen. She didn't need her byakugan to see what her son was doing. All she had to do was turn and see her son playing on the light blue play mat.

But because Fugaku was becoming very active, Hinata decided to sit him in the bumbo chair.

She lifted her baby up with her hands beneath his shoulders. He made gurgling noises and smiled at his mother, wide eyed. But his smile vanished as soon as she placed his bum on the bumbo chair. He looked at her as if his angelic mother has given him the biggest betrayal. His grey eyes looked up to her in mild panic.

But she just gave him a sweet apologetic smile and turned around to go back to the kitchen.

The bumbo chair was made for babies who can't support their own necks while sitting up yet. Sometimes, sitting on the bumbo chair makes the babies look as if they have to stretch out their arms and legs. Before getting one from a neighbor, Hinata was surprised to see how babies actually looked comfy on that plastic chair. But then she supposed that lying down must get old for babies.

Fugaku was displeased with his mother locking him in the chair. The chair wasn't uncomfortable to sit on and most of the times, he didn't care, but he was in an active, squirmy mood. He protested his mother's arms with squirms and frowns, but he lost. He looked defeated as he bowed his head and pouted, but it was a lost cause already.

But the baby was not pleased. He wiggled his arms. When that didn't work, he called out in gibberish to his mother, asking her to let him roam free. _Let me go, mama!_

"Dear, dear Fugaku~ who could've upset my sweet little boy?" She cooed, feigning innocence.

So Hinata gave him some toys to play with. So her baby won't get too restless. Then she returned to the kitchen and resumed her story telling.

"And he found a pearl where the lightning hit. And there was a tiny woman in it!"

She was dicing green bell peppers on a wooden board.

It was usually Hinata who was excited to tell Fugaku stories. Fugaku sometimes listened, but these days, he liked looking and sucking at toys a lot more. After all, he barely understood the story.

"And then the pearl cracked, and the woman became big!"

She meant her story to be climactic, and she turned to her son in expectation. Her long hair swayed as she turned, falling softly on her back.

But Fugaku was busy sucking on a bronze bell while sitting on his bumbo chair. He was drooling a lot and he tried to get his mouth on almost anything.

His pouty lips opened and sucked on the tiny beach ball that tried to slip from his tiny plump hands.

His round grey eyes glanced at his mother and then stared back at his jingling bell. A thin shiny string of saliva connected to the shiny toy.

Hinata sighed at her son lacking interest in her stories as usual, but decided to just continue her story telling.

By the time she got to "happily ever," she was done with her stir fry.

She wiped her hands on her apron and looked at the living room, "Fugaku, are you ready to see daddy?"

She looked at the empty and upturned bumbo chair. It looked as if somebody kicked on it. "Fugaku?"

Panic settled on her stomach, "Fugaku?!"

She was so shocked that the thought of activating her byakugan completely went over her head.

'Where could he be?' She wondered.

There was absolutely no way for babies to escape the bumbo chair. The bumbo chair looks like a potty, but it actually keeps babies who can't sit up in a snug position, locking their shoulders and butt.

Hinata quickly activated her byakugan, "Fugaku! Fugaku, where are you?"

Then she saw an outline of a small, pudgy body with a round head underneath the long rectangular mahogany coffee table.

Another wave of panic swept through the young mother as she scambered to the coffee table and knelt down and looked underneath.

The long table had short legs, so Hinata and Sasuke would sit on the floor and have tea.

If the table had longer legs, she would've been able to just swoop her son up. But the shorter table made it necessary for her to move the entire furniture.

"Fugaku! How did you get in there?" She called out to the baby who was lying down on his back, his nose facing the bottom of the table. She wondered how her son was not getting claustrophobic by how close the table was to his face.

The baby turned his face to his mama and made a wide, toothless smile. His dark grey eyes crinkled adorably, with a smile showing how proud he was of himself. He seemed to be thinking that he and his mother were playing 'hide and seek.' _You found me, mama!_

But Hinata was worried. What if she accidentally hurts her son while moving the furniture?

"Fugaku, I'll get you out of there, sweetie. Just wait a sec-"

But then she saw the table magically lifting and in a second, her husband was lifting the table with one hand and grabbing his son's right ankle.

Then he dragged the baby out from underneath the table.

Fugaku's eyes widened as his father dragged him on the playmat. He just saw the scene changing from the dark wooden table to an eye opening view of the ceiling and his father's grim face. Fugaku blinked.

His father scowled at him as if he was a bothersome nuisance, "Causing so much trouble already."

Then he swooped his son up and glared at him in eye level. Fugaku's tuft of dark hair that would usually cover his forehead was stuck up in a cowlick. And there was a red round mark on his forehead, as if he bumped his head on something. A kind of red bump that would cause most babies to cry in pain. His son either had a high tolerance of pain or just dull senses.

Then Sasuke said out loud what his younger self would never dream of saying, "You've been a bad boy."

When his baby looked at him, curiously maybe, but not repentant, he uttered, "Not okay.

Stern obsidian eyes met large, puppy like grey.

"Not okay." He uttered again lowly. His brows snapped down in disapproval.

Fugaku merely looked at his father and let out a long sticky drool from the side of his lips. Then he looked at the floor and flailed his pudgy little arms.

When he saw his son lacking any remorse, he smirked evilly "I guess I'll have to punish you."

"A-anata, please," Hinata turned pale, "you can't possibly mean to...to do that?" Her husband has been telling his big plan for Fugaku, but Hinata always turned aghast at the idea.

Fugaku glared at his father with an impressive look of challenge on his adorable face. _Bring it on,old man. I'm not scared of you_. Sasuke smirked.

* * *

At six in the afternoon, when it got dark enough for ghosts and spirits to dwell, the living room was where Fugaku had to go through his father's torture session.

Sasuke couldn't help but let go a small muffled laughter as he stuck an outfit that looked like a burgundy rouge colored pumpkin over his son's head.

Fugaku's little, slender arms and legs popped out from the holes of the round, velvety outfit, and Sasuke sniggered, "pfft"

As he turned into a stuffed colorful pumpkin with needles stuck on the rind, Fugaku's brows furrowed in a frown as he looked down at his voluptuous, colorful body, _no, pa, no!_

He looked desperately around, _save me, mama!_

Meanwhile, his mother was not helping but was gushing how cute he looked and taking pictures on a camera Sasuke got from downtown.

Overwhelmed by how cute her son looked, she was snapping photos and photos away.

If that was not mortifying enough, Sasuke took out a white lacy collar from his leather bag and hung it around Fugaku's neck (which was barely visible by the way, because he was still a baby).

When Sasuke was done, he took a step back and crossed his arms in quiet admiration of his own work. His baby has turned into a deep red silk human pin cushion.

At first, Hinata staunchly objected to Sasuke's Halloween costume idea, fearing that the needles will hurt the baby or others. But thankfully, Sasuke used common sense and didn't use real needles, but metallically colored cotton swabs.

The cotton swabs were colored delicately with silver, so they looked like deadly, lethal needles. And the cotton parts were colored with vibrant jeweled colors like sapphire blue, purple, and emerald green.

The not-so-last Uchiha has toiled hours on the outfit in his workshop, ensuring that the needles won't come off, break, or drive deep into the velvet outfit. He came with the clever solution of cutting the swabs into half and sealing the bottom of each needle with an adhesive that had a velvety texture. Cotton swabs wouldn't hurt a child, but for his baby, Sasuke couldn't let even a smallest detail get away from his attention.

Pleased with his work, Sasuke held Fugaku in his arms and the couple left their house. Sasuke was lazily dressed in his usual work outfit. He hung a brown suede apron around his waist and pulled up his sleeves that showed his arms. He strung a little actual pin cushion on his apron strap, and wore a white handkerchief around his neck. He made absolutely no effort to dress himself.

Meanwhile, Hinata dressed in a turtle neck collared silver dress with long elegant sleeves, calling herself a 'needle.' She wore a thin shiny silver hair clip over her side swept bangs. Compared to the ridiculously cute pin cushion, she looked like a fairy tale princess. The dress didn't show much skin due to the long sleeves and the turtle neck, but the metallic fabric stuck to her butt and chest.

When they arrived at the Main Street, they were bombarded with squeals of adoration, "Oh, myyy! What a cuuuuute little thing!"

"What a doll!"

"So adorable, I could just eat him up!"

Fugaku's pouty lips started to frown and his eyes widened in agitation, when the ladies attempted to pinch his rosy cheeks.

The baby glared at the smiling, excited ladies with barely concealed fear in his grey eyes. Some of their lips were painted dark black and their faces looked really scary. He didn't have any idea where these monsters came from.

He couldn't help holding onto his mother with a vice grip, _mama..._

But he was trying to be brave despite the cooing, loud women that weren't his mama. He even had his tiny fingers gripping on his mother's silver knit sleeve as his agitated eyes wandered from the weird painted faces. Even when his mama heartlessly left his side to praise her student and her mom's halloween costume, he kept himself from reaching for her and throwing into a fit of tears.

Swallowing the impulse to tear up, he held onto his father, the next best person to be with.

And he was doing really well. It was the destiny of all unbearably cute, introverted babies to endure unwanted, lavish attention in holidays. It was not his fault that he was so cute!

"What a beautiful baby~"

Like the stoic baby he was, he proudly endured the strangers' overzealous praises and requests to take pictures of him and his father.

While his father fended off the pesky fans, Fugaku's grey eyes wandered around in yearning, _where are you, mama?_

In his baby mind, he was scared if his mother decided to leave him and his father forever, and separation anxiety was kicking in.

But then when he has let down his guard, to the baby's horror, he felt a big wet smooch on his rosy cheek. Sasuke has let down his guard in front of their favorite restaurant owner's mother-in-law, thinking that Fugaku would be okay. The obachan adored Fugaku and was one of the few women the baby would allow to hold him.

But that was Fugaku's final straw. Usually, if the scene was calmer, he wouldn't have minded the sweet obachan's kiss, but he was overwhelmed and stressed. Plus it has been three hours since he was fed, and he was getting tired already.

His big dark grey eyes widened in shock and his plump bottom lip quivered as if the oba chan did something terrible like pinching his plump arm. His huge grey eyes started shining with tears as his face reddened in mortification and rage.

'Oh, no,' Sasuke paled, 'there will be tears to pay.' His father's guts told him.

Then he saw the three big signs of Fugaku about to throw a tantrum. It was not often he pulled a scene, but the signs were unmistakable.

One...scrunched up baby fuzz eyebrows...Two, quivering lips that pursed in together...Three, an unnaturally bright red face.

Fugaku closed shut his eyes, and big fat dollops of tears rained down his cheeks. Then he made a call of distress that is almost always effective in stopping people from whatever they were doing.

He took in a deep hiccup-full breath and wailed in his baby battle cry— _there will be tears to pay! I hate uuuu—_

Hearing her baby's doleful cry, Hinata quickly excused herself and rushed to Sasuke. The tall man was wiping his baby's tears with a white handkerchief but was otherwise not doing anything effective enough to stop the baby from crying.

The obachan looked dreadfully sorry, surprised that the usually calm, cuddly baby would show such signs of distress. Fugaku was the kind of baby you lay down on the floor with a mirror toy, and he'd be happy for hours.

Hinata smiled apologetically to the obachan, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Haiqin. Fugaku is close to his nap time, and it is his first time to see so many strangers."

When Hinata held Fugaku in her arms, instead of calming down, Fugaku buried his face onto her chest and convulsive sobs racked his tiny body.

His tears soaked her knit dress, and Hinata skillfully pulled out his favorite pacifier from her pouch.

She then plopped the paci into his mouth.

Even when sucking on his favorite pacifier, Fugaku was looking up at his mother accusatorily —-

 _don't you ever do that again!_

His grey eyes would've looked fearsome if it wasn't his constant suckling baby mouth.

His tiny hands clung to her shirt like his life depended on it. A fat drop of tear rolled down his cheek.

His mother sweetly cooed and patted his butt, but he was sulky. Hinata placed her soft cheek on her baby's forehead and swayed side to side. He has stopped crying, but he seemed pouty and disgruntled.

His brows were slanted down and his eyes fiercely darted around. _Suck suck suck_ he went on his paci. Hinata sighed.

Sasuke stated, "he is mad that you left him."

Hinata's eyes widened , "but Fugaku isn't this clingy. This is unusual." She pulled out the paci from his mouth, and Fugaku settled into a frown.

"He was holding so tightly on you, but you left him to look at other children," Sasuke said matter-of-factly with his neutral face, "So he got mad."

Sasuke noticed that despite being a baby, Fugaku was very territorial of what he considers his. He can't even crawl yet. Sasuke sighed and shook his head. Why did his son have to be like him?

Then that was when the elderly lady Haiqin got an idea. She pulled out a wrapped candy bar from her Jack-o-lantern goody basket and held it towards Fugaku, " sweet pea, there, there. Don't be mad at your pretty mama. Here's a little treat for you."

That was when Fugaku's wet, glistening eyes peered beyond his mother's shoulder and he eyed the bright colored candy bar. His fearful grey eyes wandered from the candy bar to the lady's wrinkly face in uncertainty. He looked like a baby deer unsure about taking a treat from a human's hand.

Then like most babies, his hand gravitated to the candy bar and he took it. Curiosity got the best of him. His tiny stubby fingers touched the plastic wrap in marvel, and he was about to put the wrap in his opened mouth.

The old lady laughed and pulled his fist away from his mouth, and Fugaku stared at her confused. But he didn't cry. He was merely confused why the lady would stop him from enjoying his treat.

Hinata thanked the lady. "He isn't ready for solids. Fugaku hasn't started his weaning yet."

The baby's mood was definitely uplifted thanks to the experienced granny, and Sasuke and Hinata got to enjoy their little fun. Fugaku kept touching and sucking on the colorful wrapping while they looked around.

* * *

After they came back, Sasuke and Hinata started putting their detective hats on.

Fugaku was fast asleep in his crib, and Sasuke and Hinata were wondering how on earth did their son manage to escape the bumbo chair and get underneath the coffee table.

After the 'walk of shame' his cruel father made him go through, Fugaku instantly passed out on his bed, much to his parents' relief. As he was growing day by day, he was getting more and more mischievous and unpredictable. Nobody would guess by just seeing his round, cute mochi face and placid, angelic eyes.

Hinata cupped her chin, "He can't crawl yet, so it's a mystery."

Sasuke crossed his arms, "And it is not the power of the rinnegan either." What kind of powerful rinnegan would free a non crawling baby from his bumbo chair?

"And the bumbo chair is just fine," his wife added. Surely, there wasn't even a single crack on the bumbo chair.

"Where did he get such a nasty boo-boo?" Hinata whined dolefully as she stroked Fugaku's soft feathery hair from his forehead.

Sasuke saw the red round bruise on Fugaku's forehead that reminded him of a pepperoni.

Then he had an epiphany.

"Hinata."

"Yes?" She was still staring sorrowfully at Fugaku's ouchie.

"Did the bumbo chair look as if it was tipped over?"

She looked at him, wondering how did he know.

"Yes. At first I thought somebody kidnapped him. I was so scared."

"So that's what it was." Sasuke could almost snort at how simple Fugaku's method of escape was and how it was not obvious at first glance.

When Hinata didn't get it, he visualized Fugaku's prison break in detail.

"Fugaku used his weight to tip over the bumbo chair. He fell face flat on the floor, but because he didn't cry out loud, he escaped your notice."

"So that explains the bruise on his forehead! But he can't crawl. How could he have moved that far? He barely learned how to turn on his belly."

Then a spark of lightning flitted through her mind,"unless…"

Sasuke nodded, "He can't have much mobility if the only thing he knows how to do is turning on his belly. But he does know other tricks...like turning on his belly and then turning onto his back."

Hinata started imagining a cute picture of her chubby, little baby turning on his belly first and then slumping on the floor on his back again. And then twisting his back and turning on his belly again.

That was it. Her baby could move by 'rolling' like a tiny sushi roll.

Sasuke then pulled out the final clue, "And I saw how he could turn around like a clock by squirming on the floor"

Then everything dawned on Hinata. That was why Fugaku was never on the same position when she places him on his crib. She already knew that. But when her baby got close to the edge of the coffee table, he managed to get underneath without rolling and bumping his head on the table...because he squirmed on his back.

Hinata's reaction to "The Case of the Mysterious teleportation of Baby Dino" was…

Kissing Fugaku's ouchy forehead, "poor baby…"

"Hnn, it was his doing." Sasuke scoffed.

Hinata shot up straight and glared at him in reproof.

He looked at her with calm apathy.

Then his lips drew into a half smirk, "It tells me he has a chip on his shoulder."

Then he lowered himself, until all she could see was his lips. Feeling the temperature of her face rise, she closed her eyes quickly. His lips pressed onto hers firmly and his big hand crushed her front flush to his chest.

"Umm!" Hinata moaned from her throat in surprise, and she felt his lips curve upward in a satisfied smile. Embarrassed and angry at his shamelessness, she beat his shoulders with her fists.

Her hands that gripped his forearm trembled, and all she could think of was 'too hot...hot...'

The inside of his mouth was hot. His upper lip was cool like the crescent moon, and his bottom lip like the sun, and his tongue was like lava.

Her husband's work clothes smelt like fine leather and sandalwood and sawdust. And the warmth of his skin amplified the scent of spice. His rough hand grabbed the back of her neck, supporting her as she craned her neck to recieve his persistent kisses.

Hinata finally pulled herself away, and Sasuke's lips tried to follow after hers. A thin viscous strin of saluva hung between her lips and his white teeth. But she placed her hand on his chest, "a-anata, i-it's late..."

He growled, "that never stopped us before." He was not known for his patience.

He pulled her closer to him. And nibbled on the shell of her ear.

She bit down on her lip to stop herself from crying out-"I thought we-we were going to sleep tonight-" she protested.

His voice came out as breathless, "we could always make a second-"

His hand impatiently made its way into the neckline of her silver dress.

And he lunged at her for another kiss, but he happened to have glanced at the crib.

Then he froze.

A pair of big grey eyes blinked once.

Cool obsidian eyes blinked back.

Dead silence filled the nursery as the baby looked up to his parents with a mysteriously vacant expression.

Fugaku's dark eyes looked at his mom once, and then his dad. And then his mom.

Hinata sweated bullets and cooed at her baby, "my little man~ are you awake?" She clasped her hands together amd made a nervous laughter.

To her relief, Fugaku made a familiar smile and reached for his mother.

That night, Fugaku got his revenge.

Dad 1. Son 1.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: Hello, everyone! So nice to see you again! I have uploaded ch. 4, so you could check that out if you haven't.

I was inspired by a guest commenter's suggestion that I write about Sasuke doting on pregnant Hinata, and I was like yaasss.

 **The more comments, the faster I upload! Thank you.**

This chapter will be the only one written like an interview. Enjoy!

* * *

Neverkarma(NK): Hello, everyone~ This is neverkarma dumpling. It is getting cold, so now I am a frozen dumpling, but I am very honored and excited to have an interview with the youngest Uchiha.

(NK claps, and the camera shifts to a boy sitting to her right. The boy is handsome in a serious, hard way. His dark hair framed his broad, smooth forehead, and his dark grey eyes looked old and full of thoughts. 'Cute' is not really the word that comes to mind when seeing his hard, stern face. More like 'breathtaking' and slightly 'intimidating.')

NK: It is so good to see you, Fugaku! Thank you for joining us. I understand that your parents are very busy, with your baby sister about to be born this month!

(Fugaku nods solemnly. He looks slightly nervous in front of the camera, unable to look straight into the screen).

NK: Could you start by introducing yourself?

Fugaku: (his lips crinkling in discomfort) Do I have to look at the camera?

NK: (giggles, thinking 'how cute, Shy like his mother') Nope, you could just talk as if it's just you and me!

Fugaku: (nods) My name is Fugaku Uchiha. I'm seven years old (pauses for a moment), but I have an earlier birthday than a lot of my same age friends.

(Fugaku's dark eyes twinkle slightly as if he has said something very meaningful and impressive about himself.)

NK: (anime sweat drop) Ohhh, I see~ How interesting! Could you tell us anything else about yourself?

Fugaku: (after some thought, he speaks up) I'm not the tallest boy in the village, but I'm catching up.

NK: You are pretty tall for your age! I thought you were eight!

( A light pink blush appears on his cheeks, but otherwise he looks serious and stoic.)

NK: Thank you so much for sharing a little about yourself! Could you tell us what you know about your parents?

Fugaku: (tilts his head to a side slightly and frowns) My parents?

NK: Yeah~ Like their job, favorite food, etc, etc.

Fugaku: Well, my dad is a tailor. His job is fixing clothes. His name is Sasuke Uchiha.

(A small faint smile makes to his face, making NK want to just suffocate him with hugs)

My mom, Hinata Uchiha, is a teacher. She's having a baby right now, so she can't work a lot. But she's a really great teacher. Everyone likes her. All my friends think I'm really lucky to have a mom like her.

NK: Wow, this is the longest I've heard you speak, Fugaku kun!

Fugaku: (blushes) I-I-I just really like my mom.

NK: Aww, how sweet! How about your dad? Do you like your dad as much as your mom?

Fugaku: (ice cold wind blows by) Not really.

NK: Oh...

Fugaku: He always teases me and makes fun of how I can't ever surprise attack him! And he makes me wear stupid costumes every Halloween and Thanksgiving.

NK: Thanksgiving?

Fugaku: (snaps his face away in anger. He really looks like young Sasuke.) Tch, never mind.

(Soon NK retrieved a photo of baby Fugaku dressed as a wild turkey. The photo had pink marks of blushes / on baby Fugaku's cheeks and a hand written, 'Please don't eat me, mommy...' It is reported that Fugaku has been trying to hide that framed photo forever, but fail. After all, his mother has the byakugan and his father is the most powerful ninja in the world.)

NK: Are you excited about your baby sister, Fugaku kun?

Fugaku: (his long lashed eyes gaze downward) I wanted a brother.

NK: What did your mom say when you said you wanted a brother?

Fugaku: She just held my face close to her tummy and smiled. Dad just watched me and mom and didn't say anything.

NK: It seems that you have a very quiet family.

Fugaku: Mom talks a lot at home. (Pauses) Dad started talking a lot more when mom got "Hyu."

NK: Hyu?

Fugaku: That's our nickname for the baby. I don't really know what it stands for.

NK: Did you have a baby nickname too, Fugaku kun?

Fugaku: (in a serious tone) No.

Sasuke: (pops out of nowhere, carrying a basket of laundry) Dino-san.

Fugaku: Stop calling me that, father!

(Sasuke hands out an old family photo album where baby Fugaku was serenaded by cutsie markered names-" Dino san," "Baby Dino," and "Dino chan."

There were even photos of when Hinata was pregnant with baby Fugaku. The photos were captioned, "Can't wait to see our Uchi!"

When Fugaku charges against him, Sasuke exits in a poof of smoke. He is probably on his way to help Hinata with household chores.)

Fugaku: (flustered) Can we change the subject, please?

NK: Oh, of course! So what do your parents talk about when they're together?

Fugaku: (smirks evilly) Dad bullies mom all the time.

NK: Bu...bully-de-su-ka?

Fugaku: (nods) He calls her fat.

NK:...

Fugaku: Ever since mom got a baby, her feet were growing.

NK: Oh, you mean, swollen feet? Yeah, pregnant women could get swollen feet sometimes.

Fugaku: (innocently) Dad looks at mom's belly and feet and calls her a "frog."

NK: Oh...dear. Well, it's your father who's the evil magician who turned her into a frog, so...

Fugaku: (raises an eyebrow inquisitively) What?

NK: Nothing.

Fugaku: Oh, and we saw how mom's belly is turning hairy.

NK: Wh-what the f-?! (claps hand over mouth)

Fugaku: (laughs) Yeah, there is this line of hair on mom's belly. She does really kinda look like a bull frog.

(A very pregnant Hinata appears. She puts her hands on her hips and looks down at Fugaku.)

Fugaku: Mo-mother!

Hinata: (frowns) I thought you were cleaning your room, Fugaku.

Fugaku: (bows his head and starts trodding to the new baby room) Okay...

Hinata: (looks at her son's back and shakes her head) His father spoils him too much. He probably turned a blind eye to him lazying his chores.

NK: Mrs. Uchiha, so glad to see you! You're looking as lovely as ever.

Hinata: (blushes and smiles) Oh, you're too kind. As you could see, I'm pretty heavy. (Covers her mouth demurely)

NK: (looks at blinking camera) Oh no, the battery is dying.

Hinata: Oh dear...

NK: It seems that we have to end this interview for now. The next time, we will have the honor of interviewing Mrs. Uchiha about her life with her two leading men and future princess.

Hinata: (bows her head politely towards the camera and smiles) Thank you so much for listening to my son, Fugaku. He is a little stand offish, but it's because he's a little shy. He's a kind boy in heart.

NK: Oh no worries! He was a joy!

(Both NK and Hinata wave to the camera)

NK, Hinata: Bye, bye!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: Please don't forget to add comments and reviews. I started writing Ch. 7 where the little princess is finally born! It might take me a while, but it is coming.

 **Warning: Lemons! Don't read if sensitive to sexual content.**

* * *

In the deep wintery mountains, a group of men were digging through the snow. Some kids were tagging along, being the sons of the villagers who wanted nothing more than a ramble in the forests and some adventure.

Uchiha Sasuke, the town's tailor, and his son, Fugaku joined as well.

Fugaku was wearing winter boots, and his arms and legs were wrapped with bandage clothes. On his back was a strapped bow and arrow case.

He looked down loftily from the high vantage point the mountain was offering.

The soft rabbit fur lining of his hunter's hat covered half of his face, revealing softly glimmering grey eyes. His grey eyes widened as he watched a distant avalanche in the other mountains. He sniffed.

The pale fur flitted against his rosy red cheeks, and he squinted his eyes at the impact of the wind. For some reason, he looked angry. He usually looked somewhat angry, but this time, there was a hint of wiry strength and aggression in his slender, long limbs and a tautness in the way he clenched his jaw.

The plains below him looked dull, except for the shockingly bright white snow. The straws looked desiccated and lifeless.

The slanted rocky planes of the mountain were swathed with mist and fog, and their peaks were white.

Strands of soft, black hair that escaped the confines of his fur cap danced in the chilly wind. The beautiful boy continued looking down at everything with spite and contempt.

His stony focus on the nature before him broke as he heard his friend's voice, "Fugaku!"

He turned around and saw his best friend, Gunno, who is also seven years old.

Gunno breathed rapidly. The altitude of the mountains was even harder to deal with when it is dry and arid winter.

"Fugaku, you can't just go out on your own like that!"

Fugaku looked at his friend with a glum expression and stubbornly turned his face away.

Gunno looked at him and sighed.

He then asked, "Is it because of what said Jin about your dad? You know that he is always an annoying shit. He's just trying to rile you up."

His voice sounded cool and calm. "I know."

Fugaku's jaw clenched in a way that would cut ice. When the annoying shit Sora taunted him about his so-called emasculated and nerdy father, he just couldn't think of a smart comeback.

Fugaku never saw his father hunting before. All she saw his father do wascut fabric, chop firewood, eat, and sleep. He wasn't like the other dads who won drinking contests or wrestling matches.

Fugaku only convinced his unenthusiastic father to join the hunting game because he wanted to be with his friends too.

And it was his gentle mother's persuasion that finally got his father to join the other fathers, _Fugaku wants to go so much. Just this once, anata._

So when his father just stood there, watching the others hunt in boredom, Fugaku told himself that he wasn't too disappointed. That he knew his dad would just stand back and do nothing. Sometimes, he wondered if his dad even cared about what others thought of him. Didn't he get mad when the adults mocked his profession?

Fugaku was too young to understand that beneath the adult men's insults lied disdain and jealousy. Uchiha owned one of the most economically stable and well known businesses in the village. His unprecedented success as a businessman and good looks attracted attention whether he liked it or not.

Even if Fugaku did understand, he wouldn't be able to shake off his embarrassment of his father's passive personality. In Fugaku's village, men were supposed to be loud and boisterous, not elusive and cold.

After watching the adults, including his father, in disappointment, Fugaku turned away from the group and tried to catch some game on his own.

What caused him to finally blush and run away in mortification was when some annoying kids teamed up with Sora to ask Fugaku why his dad wasn't doing anything.

 _'Fugaku's dad can't hunt a deer...because he acts like one!'_

 _'He's more like a praying mantis with his needles!'_

'I'm never going to be a boring adult like dad,' he told himself bitterly.

To prove that he's different from his sluggish, boring father, he's been trying to catch a rabbit, but he's been failing miserably too.

"Fugaku!"

Gunno's voice snapped him out of his brooding.

"Fugaku, let's get back! I was trying to tell you. The adults found a pack of deers!"

A grin of excitement spread over Fugaku's face, "Really?"

"Yeah!" Gunno yelled impatiently and turned around, " Hurry up, let's go!"

Fugaku leapt lightly on his feet and skidded across the steep icy terrains.

Some of the woody shrubs scraped across his face, but he was too excited to care. It's been a hour and a half since they started, but none of the adults got anything.

So when he saw his friend Gunno and heard the news, he got really excited.

One of the villagers pulled out an arrow that was buried deep into the frozen soil, and he dusted off the snow and ice from the steel tip with his calloused, fur covered hand.

The bearded man spat onto the snow with spite, "Another miss."

"Maybe we should go back," another man said forlornly.

Jin wailed, "Father~~"

When he saw Jin starting to scream, Fugaku glanced at him with a look of scorn. No matter how frustrated he is about not catching a prey, he'd never cry out loud. He hated it when boys his age or younger would scream and throw fits. Maybe, wipe a few manly tears with the back of his hand, but never cry that loud. If Jin had his father, he knew his father would kill him.

Pissed by his son's tantrums, Abe turned his frustrations at Sasuke.

Abe glared at him, "If somebody lent a hand, at least we would get a chipmunk."

Sasuke was crossing his arms in silence.

Angered, Abe raised his voice, "Oi, Uchiha! Do you have any input in this? All you've been doing is saying nothing while the rest of us were trying our best!"

Sasuke's jet black obsidian eyes slowly turned towards Abe and glared at him, "I told you that the animals won't be out in the plains. We have to head to the south where there are shades and narrow paths."

Abe's vein bulged in his throat, "But it's impossible to shoot arrows in the south! There are too many trees and it's too dark."

Others joined him, "Yeah, and there's no guarantee that we'll find anything even if we go to the south side!"

At their words, Sasuke coolly turned away, "You could always choose to rely on other things than your arrows. But if there are no animals, it's worthless."

He turned his back to the people, "Fugaku, let's go home."

Fugaku looked at his father, "Fa..father…" He never saw his father speak with such open contempt to the villagers. He was surprised. He knew his father could be pretty strict, but he always seemed to be in control of his emotions and thoughts. He never showed his emotions to people other than him and his mother.

"Ba!" Abe mocked, "See, he's all just talk! Fine! Go! We're good without a deadweight like you!"

Fugaku threw a cold look of scorn at the man over his shoulder and ran up to his father. They began walking away, side by side.

When Sasuke kept walking away, Abe threw his final insult, "What do you have, except for your pretty face and pretty hands?"

Fugaku started. Everyone knew that his father lost his left hand. It was a deliberate jab at his disability.

"Father?" Fugaku looked up at him uneasily. He couldn't read his expression. But he saw a delicate vein pulse in his jaw.

In a flash, his father pulled out an arrow from his s back.

He pushed away his dark cloak and drew out a long, heavy bow.

When Abe was satisfied and turned away, he heard something-'a whistle?'

But before he could process what it was, Abe barely turned his neck to evade the sharp object that flew across his nose.

When he saw where it went, all he could see was an elk from a yard away.

The long arrow was deeply embedded in the elk's stomach, and its hind legs were trembling in pain and shock. A pool of fresh crimson blood imbued the blanket of snow beneath its fur.

Fugaku could see its wet almond eyes, and he stood frozen, unable to do anything.

It happened all too sudden. Like a cackle of lightning.

While the other adults stood slack jawed, Sasuke tread through the deep snow and approached the trembling doe.

Abe collapsed on the snow, trembling as he processed how he was less than an inch away from losing his nose.

Ignoring others, Sasuke knelt down before the beast and pulled out a kunai from a leather strap around his right thigh. Then with a thunderous expression, he swiftly cut the suffering animal's lifeline.

"Fugaku!" Sasuke raised his voice sternly.

Fugaku started.

Then he rushed to his father, his feet digging deep into the snow at every step.

When he finally approached his side, Sasuke was already picking up the giant elk by its antlers.

His father handed him the bloodied arrow, "Clean it and put it back."

Still a bit shaken, Fugaku nodded dumbly and received the arrow. Then he cleaned it with a gauze he brought with him and placed the arrow back in his cylindrical case.

When Sasuke saw the elk shedding blood on the snow, he scowled.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue, " I ruined its coat." He murmured, in a voice loud enough for only Fugaku to hear. Fugaku was puzzled. His father was speaking as if he made a clear blunder.

Then dragging the elk over his shoulder, he nonchalantly passed the slack jawed and sweating men.

Then Abe screamed, "Are..are you crazy?"

"You almost had me killed! A-and, if you missed it, that elk would've horned us to death! Or stomp-!"

To add salt on the wound, Sasuke spoke in a polite, even amiable tone, "Well, I didn't miss it, did I?" But the contempt in his soothing voice was palpable. Those who listened could taste the saltiness of his contempt.

Abe gritted his teeth.

* * *

That night, Sasuke didn't go to his wife, and instead spent his hours in the storage hut. The storage hut was a small garage style space he built behind their house. in his solitude by the lamp lights installed above, Sasuke started scissoring through the fresh meat and fur.

The weight of his butcher knife went down on the meat. The slab of fur flipped over, revealing the ivory bone and red muscle.

In a flash, he saw his hand holding his sword kusanagi instead of the low grade butcher knife, the meat of the elk turning into men's.

His dark eyes looked down at his blood smeared hands and the elk meat passively. His stately profile continued staring at the blood soaked stainless metal table. His wild hair and sharp dark eyes, plump lips pressed together made him look half human, half cat in a strange, mysterious way.

Then his knife went down on the elk's leg, and the fur and the thin layer of fat neatly separated.

The scene changed again, and in his mind, he saw himself charging through men with swords, leaping with chilling mechanic grace and cutting through them until they fall like autumn leaves into their graves.

Leaves started to fall in front of his eyes as he stood in the middle of a red lake with his sword clutched in his hand.

The leaves then turned into his long dark locks and he bowed his head and rested his hands in the table, panting.

He rubbed his hand against his pale face. He bit his bottom lip as if he was going to cry like a little child.

He told himself that he should leave the rest of his work for tomorrow. He sighed and lifted his dark, tired eyes to the door.

He walked out of his hut and put on a lock and a seal that would freeze the dead elk.

He walked to a nearby water pump and started washing his blood soaked hands.

He splashed some water onto his face. Drops of water fell across the curve of his nose and chin. He breathed in the calming night air.

He wondered if it was his growing sense of anxiety that propelled him to act so sensitive towards the townsmen. Now that Hinata's due date was nearing, he was getting worried sick although he didn't make his anxiety apparent to anyone. Hinata's first pregnancy with Fugaku was not easy. In fact, it put Hinata and Fugaku at a mortal risk. Hinata's mother died at childbirth, so they both knew there was a risk of death. The physicians warned them enough. But he didn't know that childbirth could be so terrible. And Hinata was so fragile. Thankfully, it turned out well, but Sasuke couldn't shake off his chagrin when he thought about the impending moment of the birth of his daughter.

He slapped more water onto his face. Steam started to rise from his skin. The fire inside him was rising, erupting within him, desiring release.

Then he felt some presence. Sasuke secretly hoped it was an enemy so he could draw blood. Fresh, live blood.

He turned his face, and his eyes widened.

He uttered, "Hinata."

'How long was she standing there?' he wondered as he stared at his wife's pale face. She had a light purple shawl around her slender shoulders.

She was standing by a barren tree, watching him with little expression in her face. Her left hand was placed on her swollen belly.

"Hinata," Sasuke approached her, "You'll catch a cold."

His brows tightly knitted as he looked down at her with concern.

She smiled, "I thought you might've been enjoying a night walk. So I wanted to join."

He placed his hand on her shoulder and urged her towards the direction of their house, "It's still too cold for that," he said harshly.

She looked up to him as innocently as a child. Then she turned her face away and sighed.

Her gentle sigh bothered him. "What's the matter?" he asked more softly.

She was quiet for a second, and she opened her lips, "I'm happy when you fuss over me and our baby, but...I don't want you to be afraid."

His voice could cut air, "I am not afraid." He kept his eyes pinned forward. He still had yet to overcome his disdain of fear. Hinata inwardly shook her head. She loved his indomitable pride and spirit, but he caused so much pain for himself without him knowing it.

Hinata looked up at him again and reached her hand to his. His hand was wrapped in a bandage, hanging by his side. His hand flinched slightly at her touch.

She just lifted his hand to her lips and placed her warm kiss between his index and middle knuckles. The feeling of her plush lips pressed against his hardened knuckles sent shivers down his spine.

Her long silken hair fell by the side of her face. It took her awhile to lift her face and look into his eyes.

Sasuke fell silent.

Then he suddenly grabbed her wrist, turned, and started taking her to the deep forests, the opposite direction of their home.

"Sa-Sasuke," she called his name breathlessly but he kept stalking towards a remote spot. Having a full stomach, Hinata took a while to catch up to her husband's fast pace. She looked up to his wide muscled shoulders and dark moonlit hair.

Usually, Sasuke was extremely gentle with her, even courtly to her, attending to her every spoken and unspoken needs. But for the first time since she had "Hyu," he was asserting his needs, his fears.

* * *

"Ahh…" she moaned as his long fingers trailed over her naked body. His fingers rested over her full succulent breasts and squeezed her left nipple into a tight bud.

"N-no," his hands roamed over her naked, bulging belly and his touch stroked the latent fire of desire. Her eyes started becoming teary and a thin drop of saliva fell from her lips. From behind her, she heard the vague sound of a metallic clinking. Sasuke looked down at her and slipped out his belt. He tossed it carelessly nearby.

They were lying in the middle of the forest. The rest of the forest was covered in snow, but they were lying in a ring of green grass and warmth. The snow around them have long melted, and even some grass started to rejuvenate as in early spring.

Hinata could even see some nearby bushes starting to grow light green buds at a fast rate.

She suspected that this abnormality in nature was due to the fact that they were in heat and both of them happened to be fire signs.

Sasuke lightly chomped on Hinata's earlobe, and she screamed as his teeth tugged on her ear.

When she whined, "No…" he stopped and looked down at her with dry, emotionless eyes. He studied her for a minute.

Then he closed his long lashed eyes and suckled on the upper shell of her other ear and tenderly placed his hand on her hip. But his tenderness didn't last.

As he grabbed her hip, he wedged himself between her legs and forcibly parted her thighs. Then he pressed his throbbing, hot length against her stomach. Grunting, he fisted himself to alleviate the pain of restrained release and rubbed the hot tip against her entrance.

What they were doing was so wrong, but Hinata knew that she might die if he stopped. They were outdoors, Fugaku was home (although they barricaded their house with every seal imaginable so he is safe, but still she felt guilt as a parent), and she was pregnant. They shouldn't be having sex.

He towered over her, "Look at me, Hinata." His quiet voice pulled her from her racing, anxious thoughts. A tear dropped from her eye and melted the small patch of snow that still remained in their wild nest. Sasuke looked down at her trembling form and wondered how a woman who has two children could look so innocent and untried.

His face looking down at her, glimmering by the starry night, made him look so tragically handsome. He was so beautiful she felt like crying. Hinata looked up at his face and remembered age old stories of how night creatures pretend to be human to lure girls into their arms. Seeing his face, she wondered if someone like Sasuke inspired such stories.

His fingertips caressed her face, and she shuddered, "I warned you about approaching me at night." His lips smiled and his dark eyes crinkled deviously as he looked down at her like some coveted prize.

"Please...husband…" his lips curved into a dry smirk as he saw her eyes tear up once again.

"I warned you about showing your weakness," he drawled, "you don't know how difficult it is...to see you so defenseless... yet so determined..."

Maybe the word 'determined' ignited something in her. Hinata held out her hand and strengthened her resolve, "no!" At her tone, Sasuke stopped and looked at her brave shining eyes with curiosity. Then his mouth curved into another smirk and he made his infamous grin.

He tilted his head slightly, "so you want to play?" His eyes seemed to have turned into colors of hell.

He lightly slapped off her stretched out hand and Hinata's widened eyes followed her hand that fell on the grass. Before she could process what he did, he grabbed both sides of her hips and adjusted her on all fours. Hinata whimpered in need as he smeared their shared bodily fluids over her lower half. She hung her head low as her long dark hair fell like a waterfall as he pushed against her on and on.

He didn't know why he did, but he always felt the surge of desire to punish Hinata for loving him. To pay back her pure heart and affections with his tainted,warped ones.

 _Earlier that year, when she withdrew into the back of the kitchen to pour out her homemade soy broth, he stalked her in the darkness. She was making his favorite dish—okaka flavored rice balls. For that, she always made her own soy broth. He_ _followed her into the dark narrow storage basement and began to prey on the petite woman. She was wearing her apron around her hips and her long hair into a ponytail._

 _In the dark, she saw his ruby red eye and infamous rinnegan and gasped. The shock caused her to accidentally drop her husband's favorite, preciously used ceramic bowl on the floor._

 _His hellish pupils looked down at the shattered shards and then to the blushing, trembling woman._

 _His tone was matter-of-fact, but there was a strange lull to his intonation, "You broke it."_

 _For the price, he attacked her. It was his luck that their son was on a school summer camp so they had the house to themselves. A few hours later, Hinata came out from the storage in a wobbly gait while he walked out completely fine. Her hair in disarray, she trembled as she washed her hands. Then she pressed the flavored rice into fist sized spheres and arranged them on a pretty little plate._

 _When he was served his favorite dish, Sasuke hid his smirk behind his rice ball. She placed her scarlet face on the dining table and glared at him._

 _One day, Fugaku noticed that his mother's stomach was swelling. When he asked her why, she blushed and stammered, "mo-mommy ate too much okaka."_

 _Another week passed, and Fugaku was holding Hinata's hand as they walked in the marketplace. A lady about Hinata's age stopped her as soon as she noticed her stomach, "Hinata san!" The lady placed her hand over her lips, "Could it be…?"_

 _Hinata blushed furiously and was unable to affirm nor deny the neighbor's insinuations._

 _Fugaku looked up to his mother whose hand he was holding. Then he faced the inquisitive neighbor with confidence,_

 _"Mommy ate too much okaka."_

 _"What?" The neighbor looked at both Fugaku and Hinata. Then she raised her hand to her mouth and laughed, "why, I've never heard that one before!"_

 _And the end of spring, Fugaku learned of "Hyu."_

As he remembered the conception of their second child, Sasuke pulled Hinata's naked back to his chest and hugged her. He buried his face onto her long, dark hair. Then he grabbed her chin and tilted her face towards him. He crushed his lips against hers, driving his tongue into her silky mouth. "Umm..." She moaned and pressed her ass against his hard, hot length, rubbing against him in a way that nearly unmanned him. Throwing herself in abandon, she moved against him frantically as their lips deepened their kiss. His hand crept across her stomach and his rough thumb rubbed the skin of her belly.

When they severed their kiss, she muffled her own cries with his hand as she bounced on him.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" when she glanced at him, she saw his eyes staring intently at her, those dark orbs of spiraling passion.

Hinata cried as she struggled to block his sight with her hand, "do-don't look!"

"Hinata..." he murmured her name. Then he rubbed his face against her neck, " _tsuma..."_ Then he parted his lips and sucked on a particular sensitive patch of her skin.

She was so fun to tease and play with, and she would always try to love him again and again in her pure, dutiful ways after his cruel, blush inducing antics. He would test her like a newly acquired hunting bow, stretching her limits with his bare, roughed hands. Even then, his dutiful, submissive wife wanted nothing more than to comfort and love a man like him.

But he also felt the need to raw blood like an avalanche when he remembered distant times she refused to love him. Back then, she loved his best friend, so the thought of loving someone else didn't even cross her mind. When he hovered around her, he felt like a child, hopelessly stuck at the periphery of her sight, but who still craved a single glance or voice of love.

At the memories, he held her tighter. His ears filled with her sound of panting.

He remembered first scaring her with his attention. When he first reached out to her and called her name, her immediate response was to shirk in alarm and bafflement, as if he was talking to the wrong person. _Why are you talking to me like that? Where is Sakura san?_ Her eyes seemed to admonish. He felt he could never forget her alarmed pearly eyes and how they darted around him to look for someone else. A certain someone. Her eyes were looking for that one person she believed was her one true love. He remembered how he felt he could never experience a more bitter disappointment. When he tried to cage her in his arms in order to get the frantic woman to just listen, to just listen to what he was desperately trying to say, she flew away like a little bird and never spared him a glance.

Now she was the mother of both of his children, but back then, it was a different story.

When he imagined Hinata being another man's wife, bearing blond or blue eyed children, his flawless face made a harsh grimace.

He ordered,

"Get on your knees." A deep shadow cast over his perfect, sculpted features.

Under his instruction, she precariously stood on the ground on all four, her ass sticking towards him enticingly. She kept panting and blushing, but he just kept watching her. She was making an effort to do as he wished.

Hinata protested with a fervent blush on her cheeks and neck, "I...I feel...f-feel strange..."

He answered by hitting her ass with a hard smack. She yelped and bit down on her bottom lip.

He could usually get his way by humiliating her further when she is already feeling shy and embarrassed. He always proved to her that he could make her die of embarrassment if that was what he intended. He gingerly pressed on her love button above her slit with his index finger. Her hips started moving on its own, in pleasure.

With delicate care of their child, he mounted her and started his interrogation.

As he saw his darkened cock reappearing and disappearing into Hinata's milky depths, he asked,

"This time, what are you going to tell Fugaku?" His hands grabbed her hips and positioned her so it would be easy for him to slide in and out of her welcoming feminine warmth.

Hinata couldn't breath as she struggled to stay on her knees, "Ah, ha..ha.." Sasuke was helping her, or at least intended to help her, by holding her hips, but the growing speed and forcefulness of his thrusts was making it difficult for her to stand.

His questions were as relentless as his thrusts, "What did mommy eat this time?" He gritted his teeth as he lowered himself over her back and drove in and out of her. The filthy sounds of slapping flesh echoed in the air, mingling with their pants and huffs.

Hinata finally spoke up, "Mom-mommy…" But Sasuke's wet slapping flesh against the back of her thighs caused her to almost lose her balance.

The sound of slapping was so loud, and his cock that was filling her felt too much. Her vision was hazy and she felt faint. But amidst her hazy vision, she saw an early blooming bush nearby.

Enticed by the heat of their union, an azalea bush sprung forth to life. The bush wasn't in full bloom, and there was still some snow on its thin woody branches, but Hinata saw a tiny purple pink azalea flower blooming at the end of the longest branch.

As she saw the hot pink center of the azalea flower, Hinata felt her eyelids growing heavy. She felt her husband continuing to pump more of his seed into her, as if he was afraid of something. She felt she could point her finger on what he might be so afraid of this time.

Sasuke kept pumping more of himself into her. Hinata was just so delicate, so fragile. Her feelings for him were strong, but compared to his obsession, they felt weak. He wasn't satisfied. He wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to fade away. Like that time she flew away like a bird that planned its escape.

He knew that she was over him but Naruto will always have a place in her heart. Logically, he knew she would never leave him and their two children, but he was still afraid.

He hissed, " **Answer me!** What did Fugaku's mother eat this time?"

Sasuke felt her body growing heavy, so he held her and delicately placed her on her side on the warm grass. He groaned as he felt her insides squeezing his cock as she lied down.

As she felt his member twitch inside her, Hinata murmured as in sleep.

"M-mommy ate too many azaleas…"

* * *

Dear Mr. Dino Ch. 7: The Birth


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

 _When he opened his eyes, Sasuke found himself standing by the iron colored ocean shores at a crisp, foggy morning._

 _Instead of sand, the shore was covered with dark grey, brown, and white pebbles. He looked down at his bare feet, and the shallow waves lapped at his skin. His feet submerged underneath the icy saltwater looked even paler than usual._

 _Splash-_

 _His dark eyes widened as he noticed a pale, finely boned hand caressing his toes and ankles._

 _When he looked at the owner of the hand, he saw a beautiful heart shaped face, rose petal like skin, and bright eyes. Then his eyes trailed indifferently across the slender silhouette of her body that ended in a fish tail. She looked as if she was in her mid twenties._

 _He blinked-a tic that appears whenever he is facing something that he doesn't know what to do with._

 _The siren smiled charmingly and said, "So, the old hag was speaking the truth! Someone worthy stopped by!" Her voice was deep and melodious, "Such beautiful visitor! Such power too!" She licked her lips hungrily as her eyes lit up like a tiger's._

 _Sasuke frowned, as he looked down at the beautiful fish-woman who clawed at his pant leg. He tried to kick her grasp off, "I don't know what you are talking about."_

 _But the fish woman wasn't deterred and she hung on his leg with a vice grip, "The spirit who delivers our passage to the mortal realm said that a very rare man was be nearby." Her beautiful eyes shone with fury, "I am not going to lose this chance!"_

 _Then he noticed more delicate, feminine hands, and more fish women, each with a different kind of beauty, vying to grab him._

 _For some reason, Sasuke didn't feel any strength in his legs, and all he could do was keep himself from getting swept away by their strong arms and hands. Also, this strange place and the myriad of arms and fingers that held onto him made him feel dazed as in a trance._

 _When he just felt he was going to get drowned in the deep waters, he finally came to his senses and started fending off the hands and arms with an agility that surprised the women. He span quickly, detaching their grip on his legs, and stomped on their prying hands as if they were poisonous sea beatles. He might not have kusanagi, but he was far from helpless._

 _The women were surprised, but his resistance fueled an even greater hunger in them. So they charged at him with renewed passion._

 _Right when he was starting to feel his energy depleting, he felt his feet kick a scaly appendage, as if he kicked a big, plump fish. He didn't give much thought to the sensation at first, because he has been kicking and stomping at these sirens for some time now._

 _But right when he saw the sun coming out from the horizon, he saw a little body soaring from the mass of swirling fish tails and slimy bodies and flying towards him._

 _Then plop-the little siren flew and lied flat against his stunned face._

 _Everything seemed to have stopped when the little siren blinked her bright eyes as she wrapped her small chubby arms around his dark hair. Her small, chubby arms and tiny childlike stature made her look as if she was just three years old. She was undoubtedly the tiniest, youngest, and chubbiest fish in the group. His nose briefly detected a whiff of clear salt water._

 _Then she dropped into Sasuke's arms that were still like ice._

 _Sasuke was still unable to shake off his shock at this strange turn of events. Then he got to look at her equally stunned face curtained with long dark hair that came down over her tiny shoulders like undulating waves. Over her left ear, a tiny yellow starfish was buried in her pillow of dark hair. She also had a tail—a light purple colored tail that shone like opals under the sunlight. But her tail looked very small and plump, compared to the other sirens' sinuous, long curves._

 _Before Sasuke could register what was happening, the sea child turned around in his arms in a hop and faced her competitors. He reflexively adjusted his hold on her so she won't plummet into the stony shore._

 _Then she announced in a childlike voice, light and wispy, but playful like the sea breeze._

 _"This human is mine! I claimed him! So he's mine! So go away!" She swayed her arm at them, shooing them away._

 _'Who is claiming what?' Sasuke wanted to toss the little creature back into the waters._

 _He internally scoffed. The sea child looked at most five years old, while the other sirens were mature of age. It seemed highly unlikely that the sirens would even listen._

 _But he was pleasantly surprised. With begrudged murmurs, the sirens had no choice but to swim back into the watery depths._

 _When the competitors disappeared, the little fish girl looked up to him expectantly with her large glassy eyes. She was clasping her small plump hands as in prayer. Finding himself unable to toss her back, he started walking away from the shores with the child in his arms._

 _Soon they were hiking up lush hills and mountains. Sasuke didn't know where he was heading, but he felt compelled to move forward._

 _They didn't say anything, but the creature looked oddly comfortable in his arms, looking around in child like wonder._

 _He was relieved to learn that the creature was quiet in nature. His mind was actually in a state of turmoil; what was he going to tell Hinata? What would Fugaku think?_

 _When they finally reached his home in the forest, the sea creature pointed to a small stone well. The well was where Hinata would often wash her underwear._

 _The creature demanded, "Take me to that well." Her voice was light and wispy, but it was still a demand._

 _Sasuke grumbled and did as the siren bid. When he took her to the edge of the well, the siren suddenly pulled his arms away and dove into the dark circular depth._

 _Splash-_

 _When he looked over the well, he heard the child's echoing voice, "Pull me up."_

 _He realized that she meant that he has to pull up the bucket. When he pulled on the rope that connected to the trolley, he felt the bucket's weight. When he pulled her up, he saw the little girl inside the dark wooden bucket, her tiny pink hands gripping on the edge. Now that he looked at her, he had to admit that she had a very mysterious kind of allure in her innocent face._

 _Then the child handed him something. When he took it, he looked at his wide palm-a tiny starfish that was in the girl's hair._

 _When he raised his eyes and looked at her, she made a faint half smile._

 _She answered his unspoken question._

 _"So you could remember me."_

 _He kept looking at her inquisitively. "What?"_

 _Then his view started to blur._ "Father."

"Father!"

That was when Sasuke's mind jolted from his sleep. He woke up on his familiar bed, his dark hair spiked up like a crow's nest.

In front of him was his son, Fugaku. He had his hands in his red pajama pockets, and his hair was also spiked up like his father's. He said simply, "Breakfast is ready."

"Ah, I see." Sasuke said in a matching, matter-of-fact tone. When he raised his blanket to get himself out of the bed, he looked up and was surprised to see Fugaku waiting for him.

Usually, whenever Fugaku succeeds in his mission to wake him up, he would saunter out of his room, trudge down the stairs, and sit down on his seat, waiting for breakfast. In Sasuke's eyes, it looked more like Fugaku slouching forward, his hair in a tumbled mess and his normally bright sharp eyes staring into the air.

Whenever he is done setting up the table, his next job is to wake up his father-his arguably least favorite part of his morning routine. His other friends seem to always love jumping on their dads in the morning and wrestling them out of their bed, but Fugaku just didn't have that kind of personality, nor did his dad.

So it surprised Sasuke that Fugaku was standing by the bedside, twiddling his thumbs behind his back as he swayed his right foot over the wood floor.

Sasuke frowned. But that was only the beginning of Fugaku's odd behavior..

Sasuke tried to nonchalantly eat his breakfast, but Fugaku was staring at him with intense scrutiny. They were both not morning people. This was odd. Usually Sasuke was the one who was relatively brighter and more alert. In mornings Fugaku would absentmindedly blink, his long lashes fluttering a little nervously. But this morning, he was staring at him as if he has this halo around his head as he ate his eggs.

Then came the incessant questions.

When Sasuke was using the bathroom, he heard a light knock.

"Father, mom wanted me to ask you if we needed more toilet paper."

"No."

A pause. But Sasuke could still feel his presence outside the door.

Some seconds passed. Then Fugaku tentatively asked, "Are you almost done?"

Sasuke's brows twitched slightly, but he kept his voice even. He didn't like being disturbed when doing anything, but he especially disliked it when he's in the bathroom.

Thinking his son needed to use the bathroom, he said,

"You could use the bathroom downstairs , Fugaku."

Another pause. Sasuke could still feel his son's presence beyond the door.

A light cough. Then Fugaku finally mustered his last remaining courage and bit the bullet.

"Father, do you want me to clean your arrows?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. Then he bowed his head and sighed. 'So that's what he wanted.' There was a reason his son was starting to look at him with starstruck eyes. Since the hunting expedition, Fugaku has been acting strangely, tagging along him where ever he went. He didn't suspect anything was off because he was distracted by work and Hinata's upcoming hospital appointment.

When Sasuke came out of the bathroom, Fugaku looked up at him with an expression of slight fear of rejection and anticipation. But he brushed pass and acted as if he wasn't there.

Fugaku soon realized that he would have to try even harder to push his father to teach him hunting. Asking things from his father was not something Fugaku was so comfortable with, but it wasn't like he had any other choice. There was something about Sasuke that made him hesitate to ask favors, even small ones. It was not like his father was rude or cold to him. It's just the way his dad accomplished things that annoyed him time to time. His father was the type of person who would accomplish things without breaking a sweat and consequently make others feel dumb and inadequate. Fugaku was known as the smartest and most talented boy in the village. And he had the pride to match. He wouldn't permit anyone, even his father, to hurt his pride.

'Asking him to do things is just awkward,' Fugaku grumbled.

'But this time, it's different.' Fugaku's eyes shone with a fire of determination as he glared darts into Sasuke's back. 'I will learn to hunt, and I will succeed!'

That entire day, Fugaku followed him like a shadow and started bombarding him with more explicit questions.

He pursued his father who was working in the backyard. The mountain was buried with a thick layer of snow. The sky was grey, and he couldn't tell if the wind was blowing the snow or if the sky was still snowing.

"Dad, what did you do with the deer?"

Sasuke answered drily as he chopped firewood on a large tree stump. "It's an elk, Fugaku." He held up an axe that was the size and shape of a butcher's knife. Despite the axe's modest size, the thick firewood chopped neatly like pumpkin taffy sticks the candy merchant would sell.

Fugaku asked peeved, "So? what did you do with it?"

'Why does he always have to act as if everything's boring?'

Sasuke laid his axe down on the stump and wiped his roughened hands with a towel he hung around his neck. His dark eyes shone with a glint that looked familiar with the sharp edge of the axe. Then he poked him on his forehead, earning an indignant grunt.

In a monotonous voice, he remarked, "You're asking so many questions, Fugaku."

He stood up to his full height and looked down at him, "Sooner or later, you'll have to stop beating around the bush." He passed by to head back home, "Nobody is going to bring things to you on a silver platter."

That afternoon, Fugaku refused to come inside. He was huffing in rage as he shot arrows at one of the trees in the backyard. However, despite his rage, his arrows weren't cooperating. Like poorly performed harp strings, the arrows made squeaky sounds and littered around the tree. Out of frustration, he started stomping on the powdery white snow as if that was the source of his anger.

Hinata stood by the window, watching her son in pity. 'It must be so cold, and the poor thing is so frustrated and angry at himself. My poor baby…' She turned to her husband. Sasuke was sitting on the table, working on some business documents. He was wearing dark rimmed glasses, as he felt his sight deteriorating a little when he read tiny font.

Finally, she couldn't just stand back. She sat in front of him and touched his arm, "Anata, why don't you take Fugaku out? He's been asking you all day…"

Sasuke took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. His dark hair fell across his squinted eyes that slowly opened as he stared into the white screen. Then he fixed his glasses back on his high ridged nose and said stubbornly, "I'm not going until he tells me what he wants from me."

She furrowed her brows, "You know that he's doing his best… He wants to please you, but...he's scared of disappointing you."

'Just like how we were as children,' was the unspoken, the unspeakable.

"I don't understand," he pursed his lips, "I just want him to…"

He paused. Slight uncertainty appeared in his dark eyes like a rippling surface.

"It's as if he refuses to communicate with me, except through you, Hinata."

She suddenly felt as if something hot was bubbling in her throat. Maybe it was hormones. Yes, it has to be hormones, she told herself. She grabbed his right hand and pressed her cheek against round knuckles, "He does...He does love you. He does."

* * *

The following morning, when it was still a little dark, a small shadow crept outside of the second story window. The shadow was daring enough to skid down the roof, hang precariously on the eaves, and jump onto the thickest pile of snow he could find.

When the shadow leapt onto the snow, causing clouds of white snowflakes to fly, he made a clandestine grin.

But his shoulders flinched, when he heard a booming masculine voice behind him, "Fugaku."

When he slowly turned his face, he saw his father, in a long, dark cloak, his dark hair hidden in a woolen cap. He looked like a cold ice statue under the moonlight, freezing the air around him with the look of his eyes alone.

"Fa-father," Fugaku stammered. He was beyond scared. He honestly felt like peeing his pants. He just got caught trying to leave home, when it was still dark. 'How did he even know? I checked if he was asleep three times! Father's going to kill me.'

Sasuke looked down at his trembling son. Then he pushed back his hair that was blowing across his eyes and sighed.

Fugaku flinched when he saw his father approaching him in wide strides. When he was expecting a harsh grab of the back of his neck, dragging him back to the house, he instead felt nothing. When he courageously opened one eye and then the other, he turned and saw his father walking pass him.

Then he stood still. The strong cold wind fluttered his cape, revealing a giant arrow gripped in his hand.

Sasuke made a slight cough, "Follow me, Fugaku."

Fugaku stood still, his thoughts wracking around in his brain.

He continued to speak calmly, "We'll practice a little bit every morning. But let me know when you get tired of it."

Fugaku looked at him quizzically at first. Then his face slowly started to light up in understanding.

He could hardly contain his excitement when he ran up to his father's side, "I'll never tire that easily, father!"

"Hmph."

* * *

The sun was up, and the sunlight was not glaring into their eyes anymore. The sky still looked silvery grey, but the snow made it up with its radiant whiteness.

Both Sasuke and Fugaku were crouching behind a large heap of snow, their hands and feet digging onto the snow laden slope. They were eyeing a brown hare, sniffing its dark nose against some dried shrub.

Fugaku has already learned from trial, error, and his father's detachment that chasing like a rampant wolf will not get him the prey. But the hare was tauntingly close to his mediocre shooting range. He felt himself growing anxious.

Sasuke pulled the bow string till its length was taut and wide across his chest. All Fugaku could see was his father's jawline. He silenced his own breath.

Then his fingers trembled and let go.

The arrow flew with impressive speed for a beginner, but the rabbit swiftly dodged it as it pierced the thick snow.

"Ah!" Fugaku's eyes widened and he accidentally gasped in disappointment at the sight of the racing rabbit. Sasuke chuckled.

Sasuke glanced at Fugaku and saw a thin vein ticking at his jaw and the way his thighs were shaking as if cold. The little boy who was just nine years old was staring at the rabbit like a wolf cub.

Sasuke smirked and patted him affectionately at his thigh. Fugaku started at first and then grunted, unaccustomed to his taciturn father's affectionate gesture. Then the boy grunted again like an old man. Sasuke innerly chuckled. Hinata used to tease him about his grunts too, because he used to do that whenever he felt shy. He wondered if this was how Hinata felt.

To dispel his sense of shyness, Fugaku whispered , "Father, why don't you hunt more often?"

Sasuke didn't say anything as he focused on the hare. But Fugaku could sense that he wasn't too interested in the rabbit, and his thoughts were on his question.

When the hare sensed something and went off in the opposite direction, Fugaku let out a gasp of disappointment and slumped back on the snow. He couldn't close his mouth that gaped open in loss. He was so certain that this was going to be his day.

Sasuke discreetly half-smiled and stretched the bowstring wide across his wide chest, his eyes focused on a far distant point.

"To be a good hunter," his thumb and two front fingers secured the taut bowstring close to his chiseled lips, "you must plan what you're going to do after you finish hunting."

Fog rose from his mouth as he continued to speak, "What you do after hunting is more important than the hunting itself." His arms stretched the bow gracefully and then released his grip on his arrow. The arrow shot forth, and Fugaku's grey eyes followed its track, but it seemed his father shot an arrow in vain. He couldn't hear a gasp or a squeal. It was just quiet.

When Sasuke loosened his hold on his bow, Fugaku looked at him.

"You're confusing me, father."

Sasuke looked down at him with a neutral expression. Then he opened his lips, "I know you're not particularly proud about my work, Fugaku."

He then rested his warm hand on Fugaku's head. Fugaku's dark hair flattened under Sasuke's palm.

"It's okay to be ashamed of your parents at your age," he dropped his hand from his head, "I was like that too."

Fugaku looked at him as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. "You were?"

Sasuke nodded, but he didn't quite understand why he lied. Maybe, he wanted to bond with Fugaku so badly that he hid away the boy who used to crave his father's approval. His past memories didn't matter anymore. Fugaku mattered.

For a moment, Fugaku forgot that he was trying to catch game. He was more interested in knowing what kind of man his father was. "Father, why are you living as a tailor?"

Then he started to ask what he has been dying to ask but didn't have the courage to. "Can't you be a professional hunter? Or even…"

Fugaku was not one to openly tell others, even his parents, his secret dream. His mother was overly worried whenever he got into petty kids' fights, and his father was strict when it came to controlling his 'ocular abilities' as he put it. But now he felt as if he could ask.

"A shinobi?"

Sasuke looked at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. "..."

Then he sat down comfortably next to his son. Fugaku sat himself comfortably as well. He decided that he could try hunting some other time.

Sasuke raised his bow and started drawing stick figures on the snow. "Tailoring is thought to be a skill of luxury, but that's not always true. Hunters are tailors, fishermen are tailors."

"Fishermen?"

"Those who fish make nets. And they use razors to pick fine bones out."

Then Fugaku heard something charging towards them. He quickly looked up. When he saw what it was, he quickly aimed his arrow-it was the hare that ran in the opposite direction.

But when the hare saw Fugaku and Sasuke, it quickly swerved to the left, its hind legs pushing forth in full speed.

While Fugaku was panicking, Sasuke calmly aimed his arrow as he continued to speak,

"To make use of your hunted prey, you must learn how to skin the beast. You have to learn how to separate the hide from the muscles to use fur. Then you have to cut out the spleen to cook and eat the meat without getting sick."

He released the arrow, and it hit the pine tree right in front of the hare, leading the hare to run in the opposite direction, "What is the best way to dry meat? Those are important questions."

Then he dropped his arrow and wrapped his arms around Fugaku, adjusting his posture, "You must also know how to use different tools and do proper maintenance of fur and meat. "

Under Sasuke's guidance, Fugaku shot the arrow, albeit a bit uncertain of himself, and to his surprise, the arrow went through the hare's throat in a single stroke. It was such a clean stroke that only a thin trickle of blood dyed the snow. Fugaku was at awe of the sight. It was savage but fascinating at the same time. Sasuke looked at his son's stunned face with an unreadable expression.

He didn't say anything and approached the dead hare, and Fugaku followed after.

Sasuke picked up the hare by its long ears and continued talking in a low, calm voice,

"If I just enjoyed the moment of hunting without caring what I will do later...I will be left with nothing, but carcasses that I killed for sport. I decided to no longer live that kind of life."

"I used to be a bad man." He pulled off the arrow blade from the hare's throat, "a very bad man."

He rose to his full height and opened a wide pouch to put the hare. Fugaku didn't know what to do as his father told him such private, heavy stories.

Sasuke didn't say anything as he finished depositing the prize and tied the knot.

Fugaku raised his face when he heard his father's voice,

"Then I met your mother."

Sasuke's lips spread into a subtle smile as if he remembered something special.

"At first, I thought she was a crazy woman."

Fugaku raised his eyebrows. His father regarded his mother, the most graceful and shyest woman in the village, as crazy? That was like saying his father, the most boring and passive aggressive man he knows, used to be a wild, blood crazed shinobi.

As Fugaku was wracking his mind over this mystery, Sasuke surprised him again.

"But she saved me."

He glanced at his son with a secretive smile lingering in his lips.

"She still does."

Fugaku looked at him as if his father was saying that his mother actually had eyes behind her back. His no nonsense father was not saying anything that made sense. His mother couldn't even leave alone a dying worm. She would pick the worm up with a twig and drop it into safe, moist soil. How could she possibly had saved father? If his father was as bad as he said, how was he able to listen to his quiet mother?

Fugaku could'nt hide the incredulity of his tone,

"A crazy woman?"

Sasuke chuckled. His intermittent laughter had a low, gentle cadence and a strangely dangerous edge. When he heard his father's strange laugh, Fugaku started to wonder if there was some truth to his father's word that he was an evil man.

Sasuke walked ahead, dragging the pouch on the snow, leaving a thin trail.

He smiled at him beyond his shoulder.

"No, she saves me everyday."

When they turned around, they saw a male villager running up to them. They were high up in the mountain, so the villager panted as he rested his rough hands on his knees and bent over.

"Mr. Uchiha!" "Fugaku!"

After he managed to take a breath, the villager yelled, "Ms. Hinata, she's in the hospital!"

Both Fugaku and Sasuke's faces turned pale.

* * *

In the hospital hallway, Hinata was being transported to the emergency care by several nurses, with the doctor grabbing the headrail of the mobile bed.

Gripping on her nylon blanket, Hinata moaned in pain. Her forehead was sweating profusely. "Ah…" Her fingers that gripped on her blanket felt lifeless and cold.

When she saw Hinata's lips turning purplish white, the doctor paled and urged the nurses to go faster, "Please try to breath, Mrs. Uchiha. Deep breathes!"

Then the doctor started when she saw a tall man who suddenly materialized behind one of the nurses.

When Hinata turned her gaze to her left, she saw a familiar face. Her eyes widened, "Sasuke…"

Sasuke chewed on his bottom lip as he looked down at her. He noticed red blood seeping the brown nylon blanket, and he reflexively gripped on the bed's handrail till his knuckles turned white.

Then she heard a familiar voice at the end of the hallway.

"Let me go!" Fugaku flailed in the arms of two male nurses who struggled to keep him from running after her, "I'm going to see mother!"

But his struggle abated when he saw his mother craning her neck to see him and forcing a smile on her ghost-white face.

"Fugaku, don't worry…" her voice was shaking like a thin tree branch tossed by the wind. Her last word came out as a sigh. "Baby…"

Suddenly, the sight of her son, who has now grown into a handsome little man, struggling in the adults' arms to see his mama made her want to cry. She felt as if her throat was on fire. Suddenly, before her, she could see baby Fugaku sitting on the playmat in his light blue jammies. The pale child with a tuft of dark hair was crawling around her bare feet, tugging on the edge of her dress. What would she not do to touch his dimpled knees, hold his ankles, and kiss his plump feet. And playfully bite his little grubby toes. But now she was bleeding on a remote, cold hospital bed, while her baby was sitting on the mat, clueless about his mother's whereabouts, yet waiting for mama.

Hinata looked up to him, "Sasuke...pl-please be with Fu-Fugaku…"

"Don't worry about us." He helped the nurses to transport Hinata faster. He cursed, 'why is the hallway so damn long?' He spoke to her in a tone harsher than he expected, "Just worry about yourself."

When she finally entered the emergency room, he had to take several steps back and take a deep inhale to drive down his impulse to break down the door.

As they waited for the child, Fugaku and Sasuke sat on some of the guests' chairs.

Sasuke struck a conversation as he sipped on a canned coffee. "Your birth was a hard one, Fugaku." He spoke as in introspect as he looked down at his hands that clasped his luke warm drink.

Fugaku turned his head sharply to his father. His grip on his aluminium soda can tightened.

"Your mother...almost…"

Fugaku frowned as he felt his chest tighten and his heart palpitate like a band drum. He felt his throat drying, but he didn't really want his soda.

But what his father said next was unexpected.

"Ate up all the cinnamon rolls in the land of Waterfall."

Sasuke sipped on his coffee again. "Her cravings were impressive. I was worried if you were going to come out as diabetic."

Fugaku stared at him and then huffed and tried to down his soda in a gulp. But he choked and started to cough erratically.

Unbeknowst to Fugaku, Sasuke was looking down at him with a warm smile on his face.

Then his eyes turned serious as he thought, 'I am the father. But I almost hated my son.'

He remembered the night Fugaku was born. Due to a stupid doctor's severe lack of preparation, combined with Hinata's hereditary difficulties in labor like spinal complications, her health was in deep peril, and so was the baby's.

 _Sasuke grabbed the doctor's collar and yelled at his face,_

 _"I don't care about having this child. We could always have more children. Save Hinata or it'll be your life."_

 _Biting down on her bleeding lip to contain her screams, Hinata begged with tears in her eyes, "Husband, please…" She was holding onto Sasuke's arm with a vice grip and she was about to faint any second._

 _Sasuke looked down at Hinata with concern in his eyes. Then his eyes sharpened murderously at the doctor, "Again, you heard what I said. Pull the thing out, do what you must. It's Hinata that I want."_

 _"Sasuke, no!" she screamed and the labor continued for the rest of the night._

When he looked down at his son who was falling asleep on his chair, he made a sad smile. He was bobbing his head up and down, as he struggled to sit up straight. Sasuke rested his arm around Fugaku, leading him to rest his head on his shoulder. Soon Fugaku was snoring.

Sasuke looked at his son. He could count his individual lashes.

'I almost had you killed. But now I can't imagine my life without you.'

Then he heard the door swing open.

A surgeon in a jade green uniform came out and plucked her mask from her face,

"Mr. Uchiha!"

Fugaku's eyes opened and he abruptly stood up on his feet. Sasuke stood up as well. Their eyes instinctively narrowed to the sight of blood on the surgeon's apron and latex gloves.

"Both the patient and the baby are safe. Ms. Hinata is resting right now. She is very exhausted."

Relief washed over Fugaku and Sasuke's faces. But when the tension quickly faded, Fugaku felt his knees buckling. Before he hit the floor, Sasuke quickly caught him. The boy glanced at the adult and made a sheepish smile.

* * *

The nurse ushered Fugaku and Sasuke into Hinata's hospital room.

When Fugaku walked in, his eyes zoned into a simple crib that was next to Hinata's bed.

He couldn't help but raise his voice and rush to the small crib. "WOAH!"

He started hopping in excitement. Sasuke smiled and watched.

"Woah!" He gripped Hinata's bed rail and stared at the cribl, "woah, woah, woah, woah!"

Hinata laughed, "Fugaku, would you like to see the baby?"

"Yes, mom!" He jumped, "yes, yes, yes!"

She gave him a warm smile and drew away the pink blanket.

Fugaku walked up to the crib and carefully looked in.

He softly murmured, "wow…"

The baby still had redness in her face and tiny hands, but she had very defined features. Her eyes were still closed, but the rest of her features showed both Hinata and Sasuke's characteristics. She had round cheeks, and her nose was tiny but was very distinctly pretty. Her rosy sliver of a lip moved, smiling and then frowning and then smirking.

Hinata smiled and put her arms around Fugaku's waist and pulled him to her side, "Isn't she beautiful, Fugaku? She's your little sister."

"She's…" Fugaku was at loss for words, "so tiny."

She smiled and hugged him tightly to her chest. She stroked his hair as he rested himself by her side. Fugaku was emotionally exhausted as well. They remained in each other's embrace in comfortable silence. Sasuke sat in a rocking chair next to the bed.

She spoke softly, "Have you heard of birth dreams, Fugaku?"

Fugaku looked up to her,

"Birth dreams?"

Hinata placed her cheek on Fugaku's smooth forehead, "When mama had Fugaku… she had a dream."

Fugaku closed his eyes and laid his head on Hinata's breasts,

"But people dream all the time, mama."

She closed her eyes and smiled and hugged Fugaku,

"But this one was special. And mothers know when they are having birth dreams. They have this sixth sense."

His eyelids felt heavier by the second, but he still asked, "How do you know it is a birth dream?"

Hinata stroked the back of Fugaku's head, smoothing down his dark hair. She spoke in a soft, languid tone as if she was telling him a story.

"Fugaku, before babies are born, they signal to their parents what kind of babies they are. They could appear as animals like a bird or a tiger, or things like trees or fruit. Or flowers."

She buried her lips into his hair,

"And when mamas have those dreams...they realize that they are having a baby."

The baby lying in the crib was waving her hands slowly. Her eyes were still closed, but her lips slightly opened like a spray rose bud.

Fugaku murmured, half- asleep, "What dream did you have when I was in your tummy?"

"I was wandering in a very dense forest...It was so vivid that I was afraid that I was lost. Then I saw a big black bear beneath the hills. It was very big bear."

Fugaku felt more awake, and he turned his wide eyes to his mother.

Hinata smiled down at him like an angel.

"Then the bear suddenly charged towards me and I tried to run away."

She smiled when she saw that she piqued her little son's interest.

"But the bear was so fast and it got right behind me. I felt I could hear its breath."

He rested his dimpled chin on her left chest, "What did the bear do?"

Hinata's eyes gleamed meaningfully, "It sank its teeth into my right thigh."

Fugaku's eyebrows raised as if he was listening to a heroic tale.

"Then what happened?"

She smiled widely and raised both of her hands, "I woke up!"

Fugaku's jaw dropped. Then his brows creased as he looked at her with slight disappointment.

Soon, Fugaku was fast asleep in his mother's arms. He was lying next to her side on the hospital bed. His dark hair scattered over his smooth marble brow as he softly snored. Hinata kept petting his soft head as she admired her son's profile.

When Hinata was about to fall asleep, that was when Sasuke asked, "Hinata."

Her eyes widened as she asked softly, "Yes?"

Sasuke's eyes darted to the side,

"Could...fathers…"

He hesitated. Then he said,

"Never mind, Hinata."

But he wanted to ask,

'Could fathers have birth dreams too?"

In a few minutes, Hinata was fast asleep with her son in her arms.

Sasuke slowly rose from his rocking chair, so he won't wake up his wife and son.

He slowly walked over to the crib and looked at his daughter's face.

The little baby wasn't asleep, but her eyes were closed. She moved her hands in the air as if she was looking for something to touch.

Sasuke gazed into her face and reached out his hand. The little girl's hand touched his long finger. He marveled how the little girl's entire hand could hardly match up to his single finger.

The baby squinted at the new sensation, and then she plopped her hand by her side.

Sasuke lost the warmth of the little girl's hand.

He chuckled,

"Now that I'm yours, are you not paying any attention to me?"

And he continued to stand up and gaze down at the little girl. The moon was bright that night.

* * *

A/N: You've waited for long! Thank you! Finally, the princess has arrived! I have her name in mind, but if you have any suggestions, let me know!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: i do not own Naruto.

Thank you so much for your comments!

* * *

Nursing her child, Hinata spoke to her son in a tone of caution, "Fugaku, you must be at your best behavior at Gunno's house. It is very thoughtful of Ms. Tanaka to host a sleepover for Gunno's birthday."

Fugaku said in a tone of blase, "Yes, mom~ Don't worry~"

It was lunchtime in the hospital. A humidifier quietly hummed in the background of Hinata's room. She was still wearing the patient uniform that had light blue and pink stripes like a sleepwear. She tied her long hair into a ponytail to nurse her newborn. Closing her long lashed eyes shut, the baby kept suckling on Hinata's breast. Hinata cradled her close to her chest and gazed into her baby's face.

They decided that her name will be 'Sayu.' Sayu was on the petite side for a baby her age, but the doctor said she was healthy. She wore a tiny light pink cap around her head. She had long brown lashes that cast a shadow over her pale cheeks.

Fugaku was by her side, watching her intently. He marveled how the baby's tiny red lips busily sucked on her brown nub as if her life depended on it. Her cheeks inflated like a tiny balloon and went up and down as she sucked on her breast. He also wondered if her pink cap will accidentally slip over her entire face. That was how small her face was. It fascinated him how her big eyes, nose, and red lips could all fit into such a small face.

"Mother, is Sayu sleeping?"

Hinata looked up as if she was brought out from a trance,"hm? Well, Fugaku. Sayu isn't fully asleep. Babies like to eat and sleep at the same time. Eating relaxes them very much." Then she smiled, "you were like that too."

Fugaku smiled, "He…"

Having a baby sister wasn't as exciting as Fugaku wanted. Sayu just slept, ate (which was same as just sleeping), burped (which was just a tiny bit more interesting), and slept. The first few hours of watching was fun, but he soon felt bored.

"All done…" Hinata gently plucked Sayu's lips from her nipple. Sayu fussed a little, her tiny red face turning redder as she opened her mouth to wail.

Her ridiculously small fingers moved in protest.

"You're all done, Sayu—" Hinata cooed and patted her tummy, "look at your tummy~"

"Waa.." the baby's cry subsided quickly when Hinata held her to her chest, supporting her weak neck with her right hand and patting her back with the other. Her eyes opened widely. Fugaku looked—her eyes were the same as mother's. Light purple that was close to white. The only difference was the color of their lashes—mother's eyelashes were dark, dark black like a raven, while Sayu's were a very light, wispy brown.

The light color of her eyelashes, coupled with her white eyes would've spooked people out, but her plump, pink cheeks and pouty cherry lips made her look extremely cute and mysterious.

Hinata smiled when Sayu stopped crying, "you just realized you were full, haven't you? There, can you give me a big burp?"

She patted her baby's back. Fugaku heard a light girly "uh!" It sounded more like a small hiccup than a burp. He looked at Sayu's round bum that was being supported by his mother's arm. His little sister was wearing a baggy pink trouser with a smiling strawberry printed on the butt.

He looked at the smiling strawberry.

Fugaku frowned, "why is everything smiling in kids' clothes?" It didn't make any sense to him. In every children's outfit he has seen, fruits smile, cars smile, even sharks smile.

Hinata laughed, covering her lips, "I don't know, Fugaku..I wonder why?"

Then they heard a man's voice, "Because the world will be a dull place, if everyone made your face."

Fugaku's eyes narrowed as he turned to see the said man who was making the very same sullen expression,

Sasuke was holding a brown bag full of snacks like dried seaweed and bread rolls. He looked at his seething son and said "It was a joke."

Fugaku crossed his arms and made a sarcastic, arrogant smirk, "Dad, did you notice that you rhyme a lot these days? I would've thought you were into rapping."

Sasuke scowled as if Fugaku tackled him from the back. "You know I hate that sort of music."

"And you know I hate your jokes. It's not even funny."

His lips lined in a straight line, Sasuke messed up Fugaku's hair.

"Humor me. I dare you."

"Hnn," Fugaku threw back his head and showed childish disdain.

Sasuke smirked, "stop being so dramatic. Your ugly face looks even worse."

It was a deliberate jab, because Sasuke and Hinata both noticed how Fugaku was being more interested in his looks than before. Fugaku thought his parents wouldn't know, but nothing could go amiss in their eyes.

"Sasuke, what are you talking about?" Hinata looked at Fugaku's glum face with adoring eyes, "nobody is as sweet dispositioned as our Fugaku."

"Hnn."

Hinata rolled her eyes and then gave Fugaku a huge smooch on his cheek.

Rubbing his cheek as if her kiss was poisonous, Fugaku protested, "Moomm!"

She sighed. It only seemed yesterday when he was a just baby. Dino san used to open his mouth in climactic, soundless laughter whenever she held him and kissed him.!

"You were such a sweet baby," she cradled Sayu and looked at him, "I could only hope Sayu takes after your affable character. But of course, parents are never choosers."

Sasuke dryly cut in as he approached her bedside.

"How is the baby?"

She smiled and patted her butt, "She's doing well—she has to nap, but I think she is getting excited by all the stimuli. So we better be quiet."

Hinata wrapped Sayu in a white blanket and cradled her in her arms again. Fugaku couldn't help but be in awe of how much effort it takes to just hold such a delicate being. His mama was holding the back of her neck as if her neck was going to break any soon. It looked like her face was going to roll off to the floor.

Meanwhile, baby Sayu looked up to her mother with alert lavender eyes. The two females gazed into each other's face.

 _Are you my mother?_ the little baby's eyes seemed to ask.

Hinata smiled at her child's innocent face—her bright alert eyes, her little nose, deep set septum, and full red lips. _Yes, I'm your mother, Sayu. It's so nice to meet you._

As if she understood, Sayu looked more content and relaxed. The baby yawned and stretched her little arms that still lacked the plumpness of older babies. little wrinkles formed on her forehead when she yawned.

Sasuke approached them and peered into his daughter's face.

"Would you like to hold her, Sasuke?"

"Um?" Sasuke started. Hinata smiled warmly as he hesitated. She shifted her body towards him and Sasuke automatically opened up his arms to accept Sayu.

Sayu blinked and continued her habit of staring into her parent's eyes. Sasuke carefully held her with his two arms as if he was afraid he will accidentally crumble her into dust.

Hinata smiled as she placed her hands on Sasuke's arms. "Sayu, this is your dada. Can you say hi to dada?"

"Say hi to dada, Sayu~" Fugaku chirped.

Sasuke's eyes fluttered up and down as he looked at her face. He looked intently at Sayu's brows that were nearly invisible, her big bright eyes, tear marks on her little swollen pink face, and her deep set, red lips.

There was curiousness and earnest desire for discernment in her bright starry eyes. But also guardedness to her unblinking, strong stare. She looked like a more serious, bald Hinata. She looked ever balder because the fuzz that covered her beautiful head was light brown.

"She's sniffing you out." His wife giggled.

"Sayu isn't a dog," Sasuke retorted. He didn't realize that he had just casually called his daughter's name. Also, he didn't realize that he was being overprotective with Sayu, even with silly, trivial nicknames.

Hinata secretly smiled, but she pretended to not notice.

"Newborns have very blurry eyesight, so they rely on their nose to identify their mothers."

Realizing that he was being prickly and overprotective to even his own wife, he blushed and cleared his throat.

He wondered as he gazed down at his serious but cute daughter. Now that he heard Hinata's explanation, she did look pretty confused and guarded. She was puzzling in her head whether he was Hinata or not. She looked at him with blazing opal eyes and squinted her little brow.

When Sayu turned her head to Sasuke's chest, she started smacking her lips. But her eyes started to squint and she protested her father's hug. She pushed her tiny palms against his rock hard chest.

"Wah...uu…"

Intermittent whimpering turned into heart breaking sobs when she still didn't feel the soft, pillowy, warm thing that smelled like milk.

"Eugh—wehh"

Sayu cried as if she was lost in a middle of nowhere. As he held the sobbing infant, he didn't know what to do and had no choice but hand her over to Hinata. He looked at the two mournfully as Sayu settled herself in contentment. He was in a state of shock, as if he wa in the middle of a huge cataclysm. Fugaku was in awe of his father showing a myriad of emotions in such a short span of time, all in the power of the name of Sayu.

Sasuke looked at his daughter who was blissfully indifferent to the heartbreak she has caused him. It wasn't his first time to have his child favor his wife. But he was the one who had the birth dream, so shouldn't he be closer to her? The little red faced baby just closed her eyes and snuggled to her mother's ample, warm breast. Her little fingers curled around her breast.

A few minutes passed.

Fugaku soon realized something.

"Mom, it's time for me to go to the sleepover."

Hinata raised her face. She has been forgetting stuff often.

"Oh, yes. Did you pack your things?"

"Yes, mom."

After Fugaku left, Sasuke couldn't shake off a certain thought from his head. His dark brows furrowed in concentration. The look of concentration on his face made a few nurses blush as they took turns coming to Hinata.

He thought, 'warmth...smell…"

A few hours later, Sayu made another voice of protest, "Waa—" Sasuke's head snapped to the direction of the two women.

He glanced at the two from a few feet, as if he was afraid he'll cause the baby to cry even harder. He crossed his arms and stared from the corner of his eyes.

Sayu's voice was soft and plaintive, "Waa-"

Hinata cooed, speaking in her soft 'baby' voice, "Mama, I'm so hungry~please feed me now!"

"Egh-waa!"

Hinata peeled the collar of her gown and bared her full breast. Sasuke's dark irises widened by a fraction. He swallowed, and his Adam's apple bobbed down. The dry swallow echoed in his mind.

"Sayu, when you grow up, you will say 'mama, you must feed me!' I wonder what your voice will be like. I can't wait for that, Sayu…"

After her snack, Sayu went back to her nap. The nurse came and took Sayu to the babies' room, where babies collectively nap.

Hinata was almost half asleep. She felt herself dozing on and off. It was ten thirty. Already nighttime **.**

Then she heard Sasuke, "Hinata."

Hinata hurriedly rubbed her eyes, "Ye-yes, Sasuke?"

She heard his heavy footsteps. When she blinked her sleepy eyes, she saw her husband leaning over her. He rested his hand on the bed's side rail and the other on the above. His wide shoulders caused her heart to beat, and the memory of their nights started to rise like smoke.

The pale moonlight coming from the window cast a vivid shadow across his features. Suddenly Hinata became aware of the man's beauty.

He approached her, and all Hinata could see was his lips. And all the time she spent with his lips. Her heart soon pounded in her ears.

Then his lips approached the outer shell of her ear. His low murmur tickled her ear, which was turning increasingly red.

He said, "Hinata, I want some too…"

* * *

A/N: What could Sasuke be wanting? hohohohoho


	9. Chapter 9

Warning: Hello~ This is a **heavily M-Rated chapter with lot of dubious consent sex** , and I'm planning to edit it every time I want to write more smut. Also, I am just in a mood for **angst** , but Dino San is still going to be lighthearted and cute, It's just this chapter that has some **angsty sex**! Thank you!

* * *

When she saw Sasuke's serious expression, she started to remember what transpired during the afternoon. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, as she learned how he must have planned this all along.

 _(f)Earlier that afternoon, he urged her to leave Sayu to the nurses like the other mothers and get some much needed rest._

 _His dark brows knitted in concern. "Hinata, you must have a full night's sleep."_

 _The head nurse tried to persuade her as well._

 _"Yes, Hinata san. If you pump out your breast milk in advance, we could feed Sayu with a bottle. You must get some rest. You'll suffer from fatigue."_

 _At their insistence, she had no choice but to pump out her breast milk in advance. Sayu will definitely be hungry that night. She saw the head nurse coo at Sayu and Sasuke heading after them with the breast milk bottles in his hands._

 _Even though she tried to fight her sleepiness, she felt her eyelids growing heavy. Before she realized, she was fast asleep._

 _In her dream, she was in a white foggy space. She blinked her eyes and looked around._

 _From a few feet away, she saw a tall figure standing. The height and the breadth of the figure's shoulders hinted that he was a man. But the fog was keeping her from seeing who he could be._

 _She carefully approached the man. The tall stature of the man made her think of one person._

 _"Sasuke?"_

 _But her face slowly changed as the man turned towards her._

 _When she saw his face, her eyes widened into a look of shock. Her lips quivered, "Na...Na-"_

 _When she was about to say his name, she felt her cheek against soft cotton._

 _When she opened her eyes, she saw the darkened ceiling. Then she realized she was in the hospital._

 _'It's night…' The realization caused her to feel empty._

 _When she turned her head further, she saw the window. The sky was dark, and she saw her husband's tall, dark figure. His broad shoulders looked even more intimidating in the dark. He must have opened the window slightly to feel the soft cool night air. The breeze played with his dark hair that has grown to his shoulder length._

 _He was resting both of his hands on the window sill._

 _Hinata smiled. He must have been with her during her sleep. She called his name in her sweet voice, "Sasuke."_

 _At her call, he turned and looked at her. He must have known that she has woken up, because he didn't look surprised or pleased. His face showed a blank expression, but Hinata's smile quickly dissipated at seeing his eyes. He looked like a wounded beast watching a harmless prey-tired but also burning with feelings that were hard for her to decipher. She was able to read the desire in his eyes, but it was much more complicated. The empty tree branches out of the window served as a melancholy backdrop. His face looked as still as the sky. Hinata's fingers gripped on the blanket as she saw the dimmed light in his eyes that always seemed bright and vivid._

 _'Did I accidentally say something in my sleep?' Hinata felt her heart growing cold._

 _She wondered if he was going to confront her. What was she going to say?_

 _"Sasuke, I-"_

 _His voice was matter-of-fact, and his gaze was dry. "You're awake," he said._

 _When she tried to raise herself up, he laid his hand on her shoulder, "Go back to sleep."_

 _With a sigh of defeat, she dropped her head back on the pillow. She rolled her head towards him, "Where is Fugaku, Sasuke?"_

 _He walked up to a nearby table and filled a cup of water from a pitcher. "He is at his friend's house. The short one with round rimmed glasses and spiky hair."_

 _At his calm tone, she felt a wave of relief wash over herself. 'He must just be a little tired from waiting.'_

 _Smiling, she murmured, "Oh, I forgot… today was the sleepover…" She accepted his cup of water and drank in a single gulp._

 _"Thank you."_

 _When she finished, she handed him the empty cup. She made a sweet, apologetic smile, "You must be tired, Sasuke...waiting for me to wake up. I didn't know I would sleep for so long." She combed through her long hair with her fingers and blushed._

 _When his fingers touched the cup, his face showed a trace of wild emotions but reverted back to his cold mask._

 _Hinata flinched when she saw the quick change on his face._

 _He took back the empty cup and continued in his dry, impassioned voice, "The doctor said a disrupted sleeping pattern might happen. It'll take time for you to adjust having longer hours of sleep."_

 _When he saw her blinking again in sleepiness, he lifted her blanket to her chin, "You're still tired. Sleep."_

 _She looked up at him with bleary eyes. Then she closed her eyes and rested her cheek on the pillow. She told herself that Sasuke was just tired and a little sensitive from spending hours in the hospital. She went back to sleep (f)._

"Hinata, I want some too."

And now here he was, towering above her, demanding that she give him her body. The sky was pitch black, and only the moonlight flitting through the barren branches provided some light. He was not looking at her like a husband would a wife, but as a predator. She suddenly felt a cold chill run down her spine, and she became very aware of how she was only wearing her bra and panties underneath her baggy, thin hospital gown. Her hands automatically rose to her chest and covered herself.

She lowered her gaze quickly, but he didn't make any sign to move away. Her ears picked up on his voice, "...why are you avoiding me?"

She started as if his voice was ice. He sat himself on her bed and glared at her. The dark bulk of his body covered her range of vision.

She spoke in a trembling voice, "I-I...don't understand..."

"You're avoiding me."

He lowered himself so he could look into her eyes. She stubbornly shut them, but he continued looking into her face.

When she cautiously opened her eyes, she saw him looking at her with a piercing gaze. His face was close to perfection, but his dark, abysmal eyes were cold and chilling. His tightly shut lips curved in a cold smile, "Is my request that repulsive?"

Her pale eyes widened in shock. She looked up towards him, as he straightened his back. "Sa-Sasuke..."

The stormy look on his face caused her to tremble, but she tried to speak to him. "I...I would never find you repulsive, Sasuke..." Her voice was unsteady but filled with love.

But her gentle words did little to cast the ominous look on his face.

She wasn't so sure why he was in such a dark, brooding mood. It reminded her of their earlier times of getting to know each other intimately. Back then, he was just like this-cold, but also angry, very passionate, and at the same time, suspicious of her feelings for him. He was a walking contradiction in front of her, and he himself admitted it many times.

She remembered something he told her when they were young. _"I don't know why, but it hurts, Hinata. Being with you hurts. It hurts like hell, but I could never..."As if speaking to her hurts him, he crushed her to himself, "Don't ever leave..."_

Suddenly, she read something in his gaze. She remembered what happened right before his rare confession.

Her eyes widened, and a name slipped from her trembling, pale lips, "Na...ruto kun..."

At the slip of her lips, his dark eyes became wild and crazed, and he grabbed her by the back of her neck and crushed his lips against hers. It was as if he intended to dominate her with a sense of rage and hunger. She started and moaned.

"Uhm!" Her fingers gripped his shoulders and trembled.

His large and soft tongue swiped through the sensitive flesh of her mouth. She was surprised by his punishing kiss. Her sensitive muscle that she used to taste food intertwined with his.

When his tongue tried to tussle with hers, she jerked up and turned her face away.

Out of panic, she called him by the name she didn't use for many years, "Sa-Sasuke kun!"

At the long forgotten name, Sasuke looked at her, thoroughly stunned.

"Sa...suke kun?" His lips curved into a cold, cruel expression of self loathing. "Does Naruto still have that power over you, Hinata chan?" He especially emphasized the suffix "chan" with a sardonic drawl.

"Sasuke, please..."

He crawled up to her bed and started disrobing her with quick haste. His calloused, rough fingertips clicked her buttons open and slipped the flimsy fabric from her shoulders.

Hinata cried out, "ah-!"

His dark eyes burned into her soft, pale flesh that revealed in the dark. His fingers trailed over her smooth back. Goosebumps rose on the back of her neck and arms. She started feeling a swirling heat in the pit of her stomach.

"I better hurry up..." he spoke as if dazed and drunk, "so you can't think of the idiot."

She quivered under his heated touch. Her eyes were wet, and cheeks flushed. She felt her body turning red from head to toes. "N-no...do-don't..."

His lips reached to her throat and suckled beneath her right ear. His long fingers stretched across her chest and possessively touched her reddened breast. Then he lowered his face to her chest, and the sight of a grown man cuddling to her breasts like an infant caused her mind to go blank.

"You're tense," he murmured, "relax..."

His fingers trailed across her spine, and he smiled at her. He spoke in a voice that was so soft and velvety that it frightened her.

"Or now that your old lover is near...do you want to pretend this has never happened?"

Her eyes widened. Then she looked down to him with pain, "Sasuke...what do you mean?" Did he really think she would leave him and everything they have built together for something like an old fancy? She even felt a pang of betrayal at his words.

He stopped before he was about to pull down the waistline of her uniform trousers.

But he didn't want to tell her. He didn't want to tell her that Naruto came to see her. For the past few days, he was so happy. Hinata was safe. They even have their beautiful daughter, Sayu. He was becoming a better father to Fugaku. But why, why of all times, did Naruto have to look for them. For her.

When he came back from taking Sayu to the babies' room, he wasn't able to believe what he heard from the nurse.

 _(f)'Mr. Uchiha, your guest has left even though I said he should wait for you."_

 _"...Guest?" He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. He didn't know what kind of guest would visit them at this late evening._

 _"He was polite, but a little odd. He just stood in front of Mrs. Uchiha's door and didn't go in."_

 _Suddenly, Sasuke felt as if he was out of oxygen. "Did he say his name?"_

 _"No, for some reason, he hesitated to say his name. But he was tall, as tall as you, Mr. Uchiha. And he was blond."_

 _At the nurse's word, his blood seemed to have turned into ice cold water._

 _"His hair was short-Mr. Uchiha!"_

 _When he rushed into Hinata's room, he was relieved to see that she was still sleeping._

 _He approached her and softly touched her cheek. Hinata's brow furrowed and she turned toward his fingers. She hummed. Sasuke smiled._

 _But then he heard her say his name. "Na...ruto...kun…"_

He flinched and his entire body trembled. A vein ticked on his throat, and he squeezed his fists. He suddenly felt this irrational urge to grab her and crush her to himself so she'll be part of his flesh. Or run out and hunt down Naruto and rip his throat out and feed his entrails to the wildlife. Or sink him in the deep hot water sinkhole at the end of the continent. But killing him wouldn't do anything to diminish his fury. Having Naruto's life extinguished in his hands in the most brutal method wouldn't placate his rage.

He finally cooled down after some lone time, but he still felt his heart running like horse hooves.

Knowing Hinata, she couldn't possibly lie to him like that. She was fast asleep, and Naruto didn't even come in. They didn't meet, so the only explanation is that Naruto visited her in her dream. It was one of Naruto's abilities.

Even if Hinata had completely lost her affections, her old flame might still want her. No, Naruto still wanted her. If he didn't, he wouldn't be standing in front of her door, knowing what was going on but unable to leave. He could still feel his presence beyond the door.

How did he come? How did he know? Did he follow them?

Sasuke glared at the door. A thin vein jumped on his strong jaw.

Before Hinata got to ask questions, Sasuke grabbed her shoulder and forced her back on the mattress.

He grabbed her collar and easily slipped down her uniform top. In a second, she had nothing on top except for her bra.

She blushed and covered her breasts, "Sa-Sasuke!"

She squeezed out her protests as he completed stripping off her pants, revealing her pale thighs. "St-no, don't be like this...please..."

She gasped when he stroked her thighs but went on, "This isn't like you..."

But he pretended to not have heard her desperate, weak pleas and continued pulling down her pants as if he was tearing them down.

His eyes piercingly stared at her pubic area and smooth legs-thighs to calves to delicate ankles.

His fingers reached to an area she never imagined would be touched in her hospital room. Her lips quivered, "how...Sa..."

When he forcibly spread her legs and put his mouth to her area, she realized how his body was burning hot. He grabbed her legs by her ankles and opened them wide and feasted on her. She gasped and grabbed on the bed's linen, as she was shocked by such position.

His long thick tongue teased her slick area Sloppy noises of wet flesh creating friction and his deep pants caused her to writhe in dismay.

"Ah-!"

He grunted as he continued to assault her precious area with his tongue, "this isn't enough, Hinata... this could never be..."

"Oh..." as he continued his brutal and tender assaults with his tongue on her entrance, Hinata just didn't feel any will to struggle or fight anymore. She felt ashamed, ashamed that they were doing this in a hospital after she just gave birth. But what caused her to be truly ashamed was that she was pleasured. Frenzied and in lust, she moved her hips and grounded onto his mouth that reciprocated her advances.

Her oozing liquid stuck to his lips that glistened. His voice sounded soft and broken. "You...were cruel...so cruel..." he murmured softly.

His accusations caused her heart to still for a second.

"Sasu...Sasuke, I need you to...ah!"

But the sound of a long drawn suck shut her up. He then lapped on her tenderly as a wolf would groom its cub.

"Please..." she whimpered, "please, eh, explain…" When Hinata's legs kicked, he gripped her wrists with the strength of steel and used his grip to press her mound even harder against his mouth. Hinata screamed. She felt as if her body was splitting into two. She could feel his mouth, his sharp nose, the vibrations of his jaw...

Loud pants and sounds of lapping tongue intermingled with her gasps and protests.

"Sa-Sasuke kun, st-stop-eugn!"

"Even when I was dying... you never gave me...but you gave him..."

"What did I..?"

He stopped as if he was forcing down his memories that he always wanted to put aside. But they would come back. But Naruto's unexpected visit was like pouring fuel into fire.

 _(f)It was a moment of survival in the forests, just like any other mission day of a ninja. She remembered how he refused to see her face right after she resuscitated Naruto, because he thought it was an unnecessary moment of intimacy—a kiss. She didn't know but he was staring at the two. He felt pathetic, like a puppy that was kicked by his owner but still slink to her side with little to no pride. Back then, he was a breath away from dying too, but the inequality of her treatment was glaring._

 _When she rose to fetch them water, he grabbed her wrist and looked up to her, but misunderstanding his gesture as symptom of pain induced confusion, she pulled his hand away gently and said,_

 _"Sakura is the one taking care of you, Sasuke kun."_

 _At her words, Sasuke's eyes widened._

 _And then she turned away and left him, as if caring for Naruto took enough of her energy. He felt as if he was in a cold pit._

 _But her cruelty didn't end there. While Sakura was healing him, he overheard her comforting words to Naruto, "Sasuke is going to be okay, Naruto kun. All that matters is your health now." Her soft voice delivered the final punch to his stomach that not even most shinobis made (f)._

He didn't even expect Hinata to treat him the same as she treated Naruto. He didn't even dare to reveal his secret want for the quiet girl's shyly given resuscitating kiss. If she just humored him and stayed by his side for a moment, he would've thanked her from his heart and been at peace instead of torment for the rest of the night and his mission days.

But now he had the cold girl who rejected him gasping, her body that was red and sticky with sweat, and begging him to stop lest she faints. He evilly smiled as he stopped his oral ministrations and looked down at her. The small muscles that composed his toned, chiseled core rippled as he slid out his belt, zipped down his fly, and filled her channel till she felt the bulging ache.

"Ahh..." Hinata moaned as she looked to the ceiling. He was thick and hot like a newly furnished iron in a metalsmith's furnace.

He lied on the bed sideways and bent her leg so she could see his cock moving in and out of her body. He grabbed her small chin and forced her to see where his chiseled, muscled core contacted her soft stomach.

Blushing, Hinata closed her eyes but he ordered her to look and continued making her see where his cock entered and withdrew from her body.

She whimpered and made jerking movements as to escape, but he tightened his arms around her like tree roots. "Stop...moving," he gritted out his words, "it'll...only hurt you." She dry sobbed and lowered her head, feeling her hair fall across her face as he moved up and down.

"Sa-Sasuke…" She spoke as if her throat was closing in. She was running out of breath.

His heavy weight and warmth on her body was overwhelming, as he kept pistoning in her.

"Hinata...do you remember," he panted as he kept moving in and out of her, "how you hurt me?"

Her eyes were wet, and her lashes were matted with tears as she looked at him.

But her lungs were full of fire, and she couldn't ask or form clear questions.

Sasuke continued, "you said...that only...Naruto mattered." He breathed in and out harshly as he moved against her as if he was racing. His aristocratic cheekbones that used to look so pale and untouchable were flushed bright red and beaded with swear. His pale, narrow cheek drew taut as his jaw clenched.

Hinata suddenly felt her heart drop, "I-I said that?" She didn't even remember. But her husband had that in his mind all along. Suddenly, her heart started to ache.

He stopped and gently pulled out from her tight body. "I am hurting you...but you still worry about my feelings?" He let out a brief laugh as if he couldn't believe in her reaction.

He lazily rubbed his lips against her temple, a brute, animalistic expression of affection, but Hinata was not going to let it slide.

"Wh-what else...did I say? Sasuke, was that in your mind all along?"

He moved closer to her chest and buried his face between her creamy breasts like a baby.

"And there was more, but it's only going to hurt my pride if I say it."

Hinata wrapped his neck with her arms and hugged him to her chest, "Ah, Sasuke..." she buried her lips in his raven black, silky hair. He automatically wrapped her waist with his strong, thick arms.

He spoke in a cold, hollow voice, "You wouldn't have cared if I died or not." There was an inexcusable edge of hurt in his voice.

She pulled him away to look into his face, "That is not true!" She covered both sides of his face with her hands and cried out her words, as if her heart was breaking.

Sasuke raised himself up and looked down at her. His smile was faint and bemused, "then prove it to me, Hinata." Then he lowered his lips to her ear, "prove your loyalty to me." He stared at her with surface indifference, which was his unique method of seduction.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she trembled with embarrassment and desire as she peeled off her last undergarment-her bra. She would rather act wantonly like a whore in front of her husband than make him feel as he did in the past. There was a dark snake in her as well, a snake that wanted to devour him as much as Sasuke wanted to claim her. She knew she had hurt him with her blind adoration for Naruto and made him lonely, even though she didn't mean to.

Naked, she looked up at him, trembling, and her eyes had a begging look. She was a strong mother of two, but she felt a strange kind of helplessness like a newborn fawn that can't even stand on its legs.

He looked down at her. His voice sounded choked as if he was dying of asphyxiation, "you're killing me, Hinata."

Hinata looked at him with teary eyes. Sasuke looked at her confused face.

"I love your confused face," he sighed when she didn't seem to understand. "You're bright...and so sure of yourself and your integrity...So, seeing you bewildered and confused...It's so sweet." He spoke as if a knife was curving slowly into his chest.

Sasuke looked at her as if he has never seen her without clothes before as he took off his sweater. He was mesmerized by her sudden look of youthfulness, but also determined as in a hunt. Then he moved on top of the girl who whimpered as he hastily slipped down his trousers.

"Call me just the way you did, Hinata chan..."

"Hu-husba-kya!" She screamed as he suddenly pushed up on her with force. She bit down on her bottom lip.

"Wrong answer." He looked down at her arrogantly. Even though it was nothing new, his beauty smited her heart. His broad shoulders and thick, toned arms shamed most marble statues, and his torso stretched like a graceful hunting dog ready to strike. Lying underneath him, she covered her breasts and looked at his face. The only thing that suggested that the man above her was flesh and blood were his eyes, his dark, beautiful eyes.

She blushed when she saw him scan her top to bottom, "Sa-Sa-Sasuke kun..."

Suddenly, Sasuke felt an odd sense of compensation. It was as if he got compensated for the torment of his youth. Loving her used to feel like running on a hot molten furnace. He can't have any respite from his desires. He can't sit. He can't stand. He has to run like a mad man. Loving her hurted him. It was not blissful or satisfying in any way. But having her cling to him, call him "Sasuke kun"

It made it seem as if they were back to their old days, Hinata clinging to him and calling him by his past name... it was deeply satisfying.

They were sleek with sweat and stuck to each other like slime. He grunted as if he got kicked in the stomach, but soon recovered and grabbed her hips and pulled her closer. He dragged her and forcibly placed her on his lap, and she was straggling on his thighs.

Overwhelmed with feelings, she flinched from his hard hands that dug onto her plush thigh muscles.

Hinata pushed against his chest with her arm and twisted her body away. She looked like a delicate nymph caught in a demon's talons, "No, not too much...stop..."

He looked at her wet lips that called for help, grabbed her hair into his a muss, and pressed his lips on hers even harder than before. His tongue felt slightly scratchy and he swiped his tongue underneath her tongue and the ceiling of her mouth. Then he sucked her tongue with ferocity. The sound of sucking was lewd, and Hinata fought against his arms that detained her like iron belts.

"Mph-ugm!"

Panting, he changed their positions, having her on all fours. Without any hesitation, he slipped into her from behind and rode her.

He cursed as he amped up the speed. "Ah...fuck..."

"It feels like... dipping into cream..." He spoke such sweet, passionate words, but his face contorted into a look of agony as if he was going through torture.

"Whose cock is in your body right now?Mine or the dobe's?"

Hinata whimpered. "Hungn...no..."

"Say it, Hinata."

"No..."

As punishment, he snapped his hips forward and moved in and out of her like strong, stone crushing waves.

She lightly screamed and panted as she swayed underneath him. He grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to his aching, big member and palmed her breasts with another.

Finally, she gave up.

"You-yours..." She bowed her head as in surrender.

He pressed on. "Who do you belong to?"

She blushed furiously and refused to give him the answer he wanted, "N-no...enough..."

He smiled and whispered, "You're being rebellious...but I think I like it...Your cries and struggles...so different from the sweet, dutiful woman I know..." His palms molded into her breast.

When he slipped his member from her body, she twisted her body and pushed him but to no avail. Her arms were too weak to even push him an inch away.

"Enough..." he parroted her in a raspy voice. But he didn't sound even a little tired from struggling with Hinata. He even seemed to enjoy wrestling with her. For the first time that night, his dark eyes burned with vitality.

He grabbed the wrist of her arm with his left and her chin with another, so she had no choice but to face him.

He spoke with eerie calm, "Whether you want it or not, you're my wife."

Then he grabbed her by the back of her head and kissed. Then again. And again. Powerlessly, Hinata had no choice but to receive him throughout the night. He held her slender, naked body like a beast clutching its prey.

She didn't know how many more times he held her. She just lost her will to fight or even count how many times he had her over and over again.

Finally when he felt he has sated himself, Sasuke looked at her pink breast and gently rubbed her swollen nipple between his fingertips.

"Hinata…" his voice was raspy, "I want some too." He repeated his request as if he was drunk.

He opened his mouth and lightly lapped on her pink bud. He hummed and continued to lick even more.

Hinata moaned, "Ha...enn..."

But he continued stimulating her rosy nub with his rough tongue.

His tongue came out and licked his lips. He spoke as he contemplated her taste, "Your milk has a very special flavor…"

He grabbed her round breast and lightly squeezed the fleshy mound as he sucked on her nipple. He widened his mouth and consumed her breast, and Hinata groaned. She covered her mouth with her hand as she watched him suck on her breast like a juice pack.

She looked up to the ceiling and writhed in embarrassment and intense pleasure.

"Nooo…" But as if he had an appetite of an infant, he grabbed her wrists and held them down above her head with his left hand and squeezed her breast with another. His fingers added pressure to better squeeze the milk from her breast.Embarrassed, Hinata whispered, "but...but...Sayu…"

Sasuke spoke harshly,"You don't have that excuse anymore. You pumped enough milk to last all night and morning. Now it is my turn."

She felt his long dark hair tickle her sensitive white breasts and stomach. His dark eyes looked up to her as dazed.

His eyelashes that reminded her of raven feathers fluttered.

The suckling noises and her pants filled the solemn, quiet room. She felt the warmth radiating from his face and held him closer to her beating chest. She felt as if she was holding a warm, hot lantern. His high cheekbones flushed red as he kept nestling to her.

When he felt he satisfied his hunger, he rose and swallowed her panting mouth in dominance. He wrapped his arm around her slender waist and made her straggle his lap. His arms squeezed her so tight as if he wanted to just consume her whole.

The kiss was so forceful that she felt the end of his straight, chiseled nose graze against her cheek.

When their lips parted, a thin strand of silvery secretion bound between their panting mouths.

He then wrapped her body with his arm like a snake and finally relaxed. His tense shoulders softened and he gently panted. Holding Hinata's lithe, naked body, molding her slender form to his muscular planes, he whispered,

"Light of life..."

Hinata's chest went up and down as she tried to breathe regularly. Her long dark hair clung to her naked back and breasts. She looked delicate and fragile in his arms.

She turned her panting lips to his ear, "hu...husband…"

And she felt her eyes closing in exhaustion. Darkness came over her mind, and she collapsed towards his chest.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: hi, I'm sorry for being late. I am now in grad school and in Korea so I cannot update often, but I will do my best. Thank you and enjoy!

 **Warning: very very explicitly sexual, role played non consensual(aka 'rapey') scenes. DO NOT READ if sensitive to highly inappropriate sexual, forced content!!!**

XxX

"Ah-ah, Sa-Sasuke kun…"

She dug her fingers onto his back when he tried to push her down on her back. They were still in the middle of role playing in the hospital, and as embarrassing as it is to admit, she was calling him 'Sasuke kun.' If either of them calls their current names "Sasuke" or "Hinata," that is the sign role playing was over.

It was driving her crazy. Having sex with Sasuke was already a very intimate, private moment, but he insisted on bringing back their past and reliving it through each other's body. It was unimaginable and crude. They should leave their pasts as pasts, she thought. She thought, she believed, she knew that the past 'what if's' shouldn't be explored. But Sasuke wouldn't let her. It seemed as if he wanted to dig up their past and reshape it in order to make himself feel better. But, wanting to please him, she decided to fulfill Sasuke's past constructing fantasy.

But the truth is—back then when they were teenagers, she thought she and Naruto were destined. At the very least, she thought if there was one person she'll end up with, it will be Naruto kun. It never was Sasuke kun. The possibility never crossed her mind. It wasn't that she thought Sasuke kun was too good for her or that Naruto kun was more in her league. She never really thought she was good for anyone, let alone Konoha's prodigies. Also, Sasuke and she didn't exchange a lot of words in private, while she and Naruto often spoke of their dreams(mostly his), fears(mostly hers), and promises to have each other's back. She never knew that such innocent, benign actions caused her to fall out of favor with Uchiha Sasuke, and she assumed he hated her because she wasn't pulling in enough of her weight. She tried to be in Uchiha Sasuke's good graces with her hard work, but he was difficult to please.

She reflected with bitterness, 'only one girl is capable of winning his approval...and God knows it isn't me.'

Back then, it never occurred to her that they'll do this—she and Sasuke. Back then, she lightly bowed her head to him and he would nod back as a curt way of saying 'hello.' They were formal and polite to one another. During missions and even in Konoha, when they cross paths in the middle of the bustling streets. At most, she was what one would call 'friendly' to her teammate and leader, Sasuke. But never, never did she think they would be taking their clothes off, touch each other's privates, and...and...

He panted and tried to bind himself closer to her, as if he was afraid she was going to disappear any second. "Hinata chan, spread your legs a little wider...yes...yes, Hina chan. Don't fight it."

She whimpered and threw her head back, but he didn't even show a speck of remorse or pity for using his position as the leader to force himself upon his petite, loyal teammate. In fact, he moved against her faster and faster. Her delicate ankles dangled precariously outside the edge of the bed that squeaked in protest to their weight and erratic movements.

She beat his arms with her fists and cried, "no, no, no!"

When she looked into his eyes, she saw a cold, discerning mad man.

He panted, and the hot breath coming from his mouth covered the thin space between them, "You asked for this, Hinata chan."

He rubbed the tip of his nose against hers and continued to spill in his skillfully hidden aberrations, "You wanted this too, didn't you? You were always smiling at me—you wanted it—or else, you wouldn't be smiling, coming to my house to discuss missions, helping me—" His voice was soft, so soft it frightened her.

Blushing, she pretended to fight him off. What Sasuke—no, Sasuke kun said was ludicrous. The actions that he listed as proof that she wanted Sasuke in her bed were perfectly common and even obligated acts between teammates. If those were seductive moves, she had to sleep with all those she joined missions with! Not only that, she would mostly be following Naruto and Sakura or others when she has something to discuss in length with Sasuke. If she was trying to seduce him, she should be choosing more forthcoming gestures than that.

So Sasuke's claim that these were all seductive moves on her part was ludicrous.

"Sasuke kun," she gasped, "if what I did was seducing..."

She turned her face away when he looked down at her with blazing eyes. It was to much to look straight in to his eyes. Once she got used to their magnificent beauty, she became nervous by how his stare seemed to be omniscient and calculating.

Before she could stop herself, her lips—her stupid mouth started spouting her deepest thoughts. Before she could clamp her mouth shut, she spat out her next words, with bitterness, "shouldn't you be bedding Sakura chan?" She snapped.

There, she just said it. She just said the name of the woman she was frighteningly jealous of. The one person who will always be Sasuke's most trusted female friend. The irreplaceable Team Kakashi companion, genius in medicine and art of war, woman warrior—the only woman Ino would acknowledge as Sasuke's worthy partner. Oh, and there was Uzumaki Karin (she bit her bottom lip), but that was another issue. She didn't want to feel degraded by her own lack of self worth or age old petty jealousy anymore.

Sasuke has made his complaints about the meaning Naruto has in her life. But she never cornered Sasuke about Sakura until...now.

He has no right to be so angry about her and Naruto's past relationship when he had plenty if history with Sakura.

Sasuke looked down at her as if she just managed to slap him. Then slowly, his eyes renewed its crazed heat.

He grabbed both of her wrists and pinned them above her head and immobilized her. Then his other hand clawed on her robe and tore them into pieces. When he tore at her robe as if it was thin tissue paper, all she could see was his perfect white teeth gritted in fury and hear his pants and sounds of fabric ripping.

"No..." she writhed and twisted to break free from his grasp as she saw how the man above her easily tore her clothes with his bare hands, "no, nooo!"

Hinata screamed, but her screams only served to excite him. He continued ripping at her clothes with renewed fervor. Gradually, he saw her round, pale cleavage innocently peeping beneath her ripped bodice. He damaged her clothes enough to see hints of her privates—a scrap of fabric wrapped loosely around her thigh, a flimsy rag over her breasts, her belly button. Her pubic area that was half concealed by a scrap seemed to be whispering sweet words of seduction to him. The scent between her milk white, thick thighs drifted above and made his mouth water. The musky odor caused him to swallow the lump in his throat, and the audible sound of gulping alarmed him.

He paused and looked down at her. He looked at her flushed cheeks, panting lips, and finally to her fiery eyes. Then he suddenly slammed himself on her. The shock caused her to cry out loud.

Then all she could hear were sounds of the squeaking bed frame and his harsh pants as he lifted her legs up on his elbows and moved in and out of her.

 _Squelch-squelch-squelch-squelch_

As she felt his hot cock fill in and out of her, she cried, "Sa-Sasuke kun-"

He didn't answer. Instead, all she could hear was the short, repetitive, and sticky sounds of his core slapping against her wet thighs.

A small tear formed in her eye. How could mentioning Sakura's name once bring him to such crazed state? How could Sakura's chan's name have such aphrodisiac power over this man? She struggled to swallow her tears. She hated Sakura chan. She hated him. But most of all, she hated herself. She was the one acting like a female dog in heat in the hands of a man who didn't desire her. She looked down to see his perfectly chiseled core move in between her spread thighs and then retreat, only to move in between her legs.

She gasped-"Sasuke kun-"

"Shut up-"

 _Slap-slap-slap_

His hot cock filled in and out of her, and Hinata squeezed her eyes shut in shame as she felt his body slap against her round, wet buttocks and smear her liquids on her butt and on her entrance.

Meanwhile, Sasuke grinned as he looked down at Hinata and how she's unable to open her eyes wide and stare back at him in challenge. Her spine arched as she curled into herself like a little hibernating mammal. Like a baby chipmunk, he mused.

After readjusting her legs over his arms, he continued the physical onslaught of thrusts, withdrawals, rubbing, and teasing. Then he felt himself getting close to the brink, and his stomach clenched and knees bucked under pressure. He has barely restrained himself from spilling his seed into her, and the minute hair on his face rose as he pushed himself into her body and shuddered.

The way he convulsively shuddered always managed to elicit some unknown fear in Hinata, and she would automatically reach out her hand to grab him in case he collapses. But he never collapsed after his first, and he always demonstrated speedy recovery.

Hinata whined when he settled himself between her legs like a strong boulder. But he grabbed a muss of her dark blue hair in his fist and when she looked at him tiredly, he coaxed and urged her to wake up with a rough kiss. When she moaned, he thought he accidentally hurt her so he licked her bottom lip apologetically and started to gently kiss her.

Between pants and deceivingly gentle kisses, he moved in and out of her with increasing speed. His buttocks hardened as he continued his thrusts, and he felt the rush of euphoria as his body bucked and strained against hers.

As he continued to move in her at a feverish pace, she struggled to contain her tears.

'Does Sakura mean that much to you, Sasuke kun? So much that I shouldn't even dare to insult her?' She wanted to cry out those questions onto his face, but she was powerless, naked and receiving his powerful, equally naked thrusts. She was just a pitiful, naked body that was his object of lust.

She never indulged in the thought that she could be Sasuke's match. She doubted that any kunoichi, even Sakura, could defeat or fight off Sasuke if he intended to have any of them. But she knew Sakura or Ino or Karin would be perfectly willing to be Sasuke's bedmates. Just knowing that made her feel knots twisting in her stomach.

But look where her jealousy led her.

The man she loved was punishing her for insulting the woman he viewed as his only equal. And here she was writhing in lust and pleasure in the hands of a man who didn't care for her except to punish her for insulting his beloved.She couldn't believe that he was treating her as if she was some common whore just because she revealed her secret hatred of Sakura and envy of their relationship. She was his wife—shouldn't she be understood if she was jealous?

As she was battling her inner demons, Sasuke looked down at her. His brows knitted as he stared at her in an unreadable expression. His lips formed a straight line. He could tell that her thoughts were elsewhere. Anger spread like a wildfire. _How dare she._

While Hinata was still thinking of Sakura, she suddenly felt her lower half lifting and shuddering convulsively. Her gaze snapped to the man above her, and surprise, then agony surfaced in her face.

"Sasuke kun, please-ah! Ah-ah-ah!"

 _Slap-slap-slap_

His thick cock that ploughed into her and the dominant strength of his thighs told her that she had no right to speak unless he wanted her to.

She turned her head away and cried, "noo," but he grabbed her wrists and dug himself more deeply into her and grunted under his breath.

A long dark strand grazed his cheekbone fell in front of his face as he slammed his core against hers. His tongue came out and swiped across his lips as he looked down at her panting face.

"Sasuke kun, please, forgive—I, I won't mention Sakura's name again—please"

He panted, taking a minute of break. Hinata sighed, thinking that it was over. Until he suddenly raised her lower half up and sank his cock onto her. Her eye's widened as she saw him slowly sink his hard length into her, bobbing his cock onto her.

As he rapidly entered in and out of her in savage thrusts, he looked down at her pale, beautiful body. His large hand reached out to touch the expanse of her lovely belly, her round breasts, and curvaceous side. Her belly was still a little swollen because she gave birth, but he liked it. It looks cute, he thought. His hand touched her carefully, his pads tracing her skin as if she was a piece of art. She trembled at his touch. Whether it was disgust at his touch or pleasure, he had no way of knowing.

She was so achingly beautiful. And she was his. For so damn long, he wanted her, dreamt of having her.

As he ravaged her, he thought, 'and now finally, she's mine. Both past and present."

As his cock entered her milky soft depths, he looked at her face, her eyes squinted shut and lips opened and panting, breasts dangling.

But her cry jolted him from his thoughts and poured ice water over his bliss.

"I won't insult her anymore!"

Then Sasuke's eyes widened and he stopped his movements. "Hm?"

Hinata turned to the other side and sobbed and covered her face. At the sight of her tears and trembling shoulders, Sasuke felt a sharp ache in his chest.

"Hinata," Sasuke urgently called his beloved wife's name, signalling that their role play is over, "what do you mean?"

When she shook her head and refused to look at him, he grabbed her shoulders and turned her to him, "why are you crying?" He rubbed the corners of her puffy red eyes with the pad of his thumb and smudged a tear across her temple. He looked into her face with concern.

She kept shedding tears, "Anata, you're mean, no you're cruel, do you know that?"

When Sasuke wasn't able to say anything, she hiccuped and wiped her flowing tears, "you-you accuse me for having feelings for Naruto kun in the past,but" she sniffed, "what about you and Sakura chan?"

He looked down at her speechless. When she saw his handsome, stunned expression, she grimaced as if she caught him redhanded.

He let out a deep breath as if to keep his infamous temper under control and spoke deliberately, his calm visage betraying the anger inside, "what about me and Sakura?"

"See, look!" She wept but continued rebelliously, "y-you don't know h-how I felt whenever you called Sakura chan, 'Sakura.' It took you six years to call me 'Hinata' without a suffix! Even now, for speaking ill of Sakura chan for just once, you're punishing me—"

He looked at her with utter disbelief, "You think I'm mad at you for _her_ sake?"

She shot back, "Then why else, would you be mad at me for speaking of her?"

"Hinata." He pursed his lips and let out a deep breath. When she tried to turn away and pretend to go to sleep, he grabbed her and forced her to look at him. His large hands grabbed both sides of her cheeks and made her face him. At first, she stubbornly shut her eyes, but slowly she opened them to see Sasuke's face.

As he made eye contact, he said each word as clearly as he could,

"Hinata, you're my wife. And my wife just told me to go fuck another woman."

Hinata swallowed. Her gaze fell down to the mattress and she fidgeted, but he still kept her in place.

He continued, but this time his anger could be skin-felt.

"What kind of husband wouldn't get upset?" He started to raise his voice, "what do you take me for?" She swallowed the lump in her throat. It didn't take a genius to know that he was really angry.

"Sasuke..."

"Once you said "go fuck Sakura," I almost went beserk. It just doesn't make sense, unless you hated me and wanted me to be as far as possible."

"No, that's not true!" She raised her voice, but she felt herself shuddering in spite of herself. It has been a while since she was the object of Sasuke's fury. "I-I never said I wanted you to leave!"

"Don't play with me!" He snarled, "then why did you say that I should've been bedding Sakura instead? Why is she even important?"

Her byakugan looked at him with tears of anger, resentment, and desire, "because when we talk about our past, I can't help but think about Sakura!"

The effect of her words was explosive, and Sasuke released his grip on her face.

He gritted his teeth, " what if I told you to go fuck Naruto?"

Hinata stared at him, covering her breasts with her arms, "Sasuke..."

"Except I wouldn't," his lips curved into a cold smile, "no matter how mad I get, I would never say such thing. I would rather choke the last piece of life from his breath and mine than see you and Naruto sharing yin and yang."

She blushed profusely and hid her face with her hands in mortification of his words. Then it registered to her. How hurtful her insecurity ridden words must have been.

She carefully caressed his face with her hands, de tangled the knots in his ink black hair, and rubbed her nose against his high cheekbone. After some hesitation, she finally let go of her stupid pride and said "I-I always have been jealous of Haruno chan...She...she was the closest female to you and Naruto kun."

"Wh-when you said th-that I was seducing you by being your teammate, I couldn't help but be reminded of Haruno chan and how close you two were. I was jealous and...I said something I shouldn't have said out of spite."

She closed her eyes and held his face to her chest, "I keep telling you that there is nothing between me and Naruto kun anymore, and I rebuke you for being insecure about my love...but it turned out that I was the insecure one. I'm the one living with the past."

He looked up to her. Then he made a faint smile as he pushed her on her back.

As he gazed at her blue dark hair sprawling on the mattress, he whispered,

"There are old childhood tales about the Uchiha clan matriarchs. They're said to be very jealous.

So jealous that they would do anything to eliminate their rivals in love."

He drawled as he held a strand of her long hair and rubbed it between his fingers, "one dragged her rival to an underground torture chamber and dismembered her. Another poisoned her husband's lover who was a singer, and turned her mute so she could beg on the streets."

His dark abysmal eyes glowed a deep scarlet red and ringlet purple as he gazed at her pale face. When she turned her face away in horror, he grabbed her bosom and squeezed her dough-like flesh. She winced and covered her mouth.

He whispered into her ear subtly, "Act like you have blood thirst, Hinata. Crush her. Poison her so she couldn't speak to me ever again. I would actually be flattered, no elated if you were that jealous for me."

She trembled as she refused to look at him, "Sasuke..."

He grabbed both of her breasts and added just enough pressure to rekindle that burst of arousal.

As he watched her eyes turn hazy in arousal, he quietly enunciated each word,

"You could do the worst heathen things to Sakura, and you'll still be sweet and lovable in my eyes."

He dug his fingers into her waist and ground on her in a way that made her wonder if he was a man or an animal. But she knew that she was a bigger aberration. Her desires to be swept in his violent love making as abnormal and outrageous. She was the pervert who wanted to be shackled and bound.

As he spread her legs and slowly tortured her with his tongue, he chuckled, "but I have to admit...Jealous Hinata was very provocative. It was fun punishing her. I would've loved punishing her more. Perhaps lick on her lipids like I'm doing now."

"D-Don't sa-say that," she protested as he licked onto her wetness, slurped and gulped. She moaned, "ummm..."

XxX

When Hinata opened her eyes, she still felt dazed and a little disoriented from last night. Even when she moved her fingers, she still felt as if she was in a middle of a dream. Her cheeks turned red at the memories that transpired just a few hours ago. The color of her cheeks looked slightly tawny orange in the morning sunrise. Her lips opened and shut as she processed each moment-his rough grab on her shoulder and gentle kiss on her brow, the way his organ felt in every thrust and his sturdy hold on her hip so she doesn't collapse under his weight. He alternated between being ruthless and devoted, uncaring and gentle.

The color of tawny orange bloomed more fiercely on her face. How did she come to love such a man? Granted, she never expected that he would have such a wayward, dominant sexual persona. Rather, in the beginning, she thought that he must be very shy. People might laugh, but it was true. She thought he would be very shy and inexpressive. In the beginning of their relationship, Sasuke didn't even know how to sweetly usher her to a fancy restaurant. She laughed when she remembered how he grimaced as she made fun of his dry invitation to dinner, "Dinner ouside, tonight." To others, he just seemed rude, but he was so cute in her eyes. So in their early honeymoon, she told herself that she has to be patient and correct him if he makes equally clumsy but endearing blunders during their first night. After all, it was her first and it is his first time to get to know her in such way. They'll inform each other of their habits, desires, and flaws, and grow hand in hand. And they'll be one. That was her romantic expectation of their sexual and married life.

But it turned out that she was very wrong. Quickly, she learned that a person's dating personality doesn't always reflect his sexual preferences. At night, Sasuke was far from inexpressive. He was actually extremely expressive to Hinata, and she was enthralled and scared. He was open and passionate, and even though she was entranced, she was still afraid to expose herself the way Sasuke does. She admired how effortlessly he showed himself. How confident he was, and so beautiful that his every expression and transition looked like a carefully curated film clip. He made every crude and pornographic position look like an elegant movement, like some dance, and she was always in suspense, wondering what his next act will be. As for herself, she was as graceful as a flippery fish in a net. A blushing, embarrassed flippery fish at that. Seven years have passed, but she's still as clumsy as ever. It mystified her how Sasuke could still be so entranced with her, as if she was some kind of goddess, even though she showed no particularly noteworthy sexual prowess.

Years passed. But she's still insecure. If she develops her self esteem in one area, she'll feel bad about herself in some other aspect. Why can't her confidence grow like the shrubs in her backyard? She started to feel gloomy.

'No, no, no, don't think that way,' She shook her head. 'Thank goodness, I am by myself.' She was very grateful that nobody had the ability to look into her mind. She instead consciously brought up the memories of the prior night to feel the surge of euphoria.

She started thinking about her words with Sasuke.

 _She grabbed his face with her hands and forced him to look into her eyes. He looked into her serious face with half dazed, drunk dark eyes and lips opened apart and glistening with her secretions._

 _Her light lavender eyes looked at him as if she was afraid and she begged—"Don't stop. Take me. Show me how much you desire me, Sasuke kun. I need to be lost in your strength. I don't understand why you desire me so much, but I want to blindly believe that I'm enough to make you lose your mind. Show me, Sasuke."_

 _He looked at her as if she has struck him with a deadly fist and wrapped his long, muscular arms around her waist and forced her on her back._

 _His eyes were full of inner turmoil as he cried, "why couldn't you understand? From the beginning, you were all that I had—"_

 _He sounded choked—"From the beginning, you were...you were everything...I-"_

" _Fight me, Hinata...I'll show you. So fight me."_

Just remembering his words and the desperate but dominant look on his face kept her from breathing normally. She looked around. The memories were so vivid, but there was no Sasuke. She was alone in her hospital room. There was no sign of the strange and passionate interaction. The linen bed sheets were changed, Sasuke wasn't there and she had a fresh set of uniform on.

'Also,' she blushed, 'my sex is clean. He must've wiped it off with a steamed towel like he sometimes does when he thinks he was being too rough.'

She wondered. 'Where are you, Sasuke?'

But she felt a lack of warmth on the bed, and she felt empty. She emitted a small, low groan as she buried her face against the pillow. She just didn't feel like waking up. It was so cozy lying on the bed with Sasuke after they make love. So she dearly missed his presence, and she didn't feel like waking up and starting the day with a fresh beginning. Ironically, feeling his warm presence by her side on the bed is what keeps her energetic and ready to get out of bed and start the morning. Once, he complained very genuinely that he can't fathom why she was always so eager to leave his side every morning. On weekends, he would demand that she lie by his side and cuddle and sleep with him, only to give up when she gently reasons with him that she has to start making breakfast. She didn't want to see him skip breakfast, even if it meant few more hours of pleasure in his arms. In so many ways, she was the exact opposite of Sasuke when it comes to showing affections.

"Hinata!" Then suddenly, a deep voice jerked her to a rude awareness of the man who opened the sliding door of the hospital.

"I heard a groan," her husband rushed to her side and cupped her cheek, "are you alright?"

She blushed, her face turning red when she realized that Sasuke was worried of her bodily condition after intercourse. She shook her head fiercely, "Oh, no, it wasn't that. I-I was just frustrated to start the morning…" She lowered her eyes to her blanket and murmured, "without you…" She wanted to hide her face in the blanket. For some reason, she felt very very childish. It embarrassed her to admit that she felt lonely and a bit hurt when she didn't see him after their night.

Silence...Then he approached her.

He approached her with a startling intensity that frightened her and tried to take her to emotional places she was too self conscious to tread. No, he never forced her, or nagged her to do things she wasn't comfortable with. Rather, he wanted to drive her just as crazy and delirious as he is when he looks at her. He wanted her to lose her tight, binding grip on her shyness that was so charming but also maddening. Whenever she tried to rush to an emotionally safe place, and tried to be a little wife, Sasuke grabbed her and tried to consume her and acted as if they were mating for the first time. But Sasuke's fierceness wasn't what scared Hinata the most. She was scared of herself-how wanton she becomes, she felt as if she was her own stranger when she is lost in her desires for him.

While she was lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that Sasuke was staring down at her crotch with a serious look on his face. His jaw clenched as he looked at her with concern.

He frowned as he murmured, "You must be sore." His big hand approached her and tried to touch her left thigh.

She flinched.

"Hinata," his voice was calm as the look of pain flitted across his eyes, "I'm not going to hurt you again."

"I-I wasn't thinking-!"

She tried to calm down. "I...wasn't thinking you were going to hurt me. I knew you were trying to heal me."

She held his hand that tried to pull away from her grasp and stubbornly held his palm to her cheek.

"I know you could reverse bodily damage, even resurrect people...I stopped you because I thought it was unnecessary. I am not 'damaged,' Sasuke. I'm okay."

He said pensively, "It's your habit to say that you're okay." His calm voice held a slight hint of anguish.

"I don't want to hear you say that you're okay when you're not."

He repeated to show how much he hated it when she withheld herself.

"I don't want to hear it."

She looked up to him firmly, "But I am, though."

She rubbed her cheek against his palm. He turned his hand to cup her cheek. "You were rough, and I was surprised, but you were gentle too."

She pressed her lips against his palm and kissed-"If I didn't feel that gentleness...I would've said 'ice.'"

Then she looked to him and smiled widely, causing his heart to leap, "But I didn't, did I?"

After a pause, he finally said,

"I want to kiss you and start it all over again, but…"

She blushed at his words in spite of herself.

A thin vein ticked on his jaw.

"He's here."

He glared at the door as if it was his enemy.

"He came right up to that door last night, and he's around here."

He then looked down at his fist that slowly clenched into a fist and unfurled. Hinata gaspedand quickly grabbed his fist with two hands and gave him a pleading look.

He looked into her pale eyes and shook his head.

"I can't act as if everything is normal. I feel as if my blood is boiling."

He lowered his voice dangerously as he looked at her.

"He must've known you were asleep, so he opted for a method of contact that I don't agree with."

She raised her voice and spoke quickly,

"Ah, Sasuke, that was-"

He touched her face in a friendly manner, but that warmth didn't diminish her anxiety and concern.

"I'm not interrogating you. I know it isn't your fault."

She made a faint smile, and she tried to hug him in relief. But before she could bury herself into his arms, he grabbed her shoulders and stopped her.

In a tone of finality, he said " I'm looking for him."

Her eyes widened and she looked pale at his words.

"Sasuke..."

"If he's here for you, I'll show him that he's not welcome." His gaze fell on her lips that opened slightly apart, to her shapely, small nose, then to her clear eyes. Then he gingerly pressed his lips against hers.

She quickly closed her eyes, "heung..."

Then he separated himself, leaving a sound of wet, separated lips.

When he saw the look on her face, he frowned and said "I need to know why he's here" as a reply to her quiet demand that they don't fight and blow up half of the town's mountain region.

"I'm going to tell him that there is a thing called 'space' and he can't just traverse other people's space."

She was quiet for a second, and then she spoke up.

"I agree with you… But do you have to confront him now? I'm afraid you and Naruto will do something rash. It is like watching fire and lightning."

"I have to."

His voice reflected the tone of his anger: resolute and cold.

"He came without warning and ruined my moment with my family. I don't need to consider his."

He said it with a definite air, as if he forbade her to try to dissuade him. Then he stretched his hand to her thigh and channeled his glowing chakra to her lap.

She felt the slightly prickly feeling of an electrical current. It wasn't painful at all. It was an interesting sensation as if the current flowing in her was causing the muscle fibres to hum gently.

When he finished and turned his back to her as to leave, she wrapped her arms around his waist and stopped him. He froze, but she still didn't let him go

She buried her face against the sweater material as she hugged him from the back. He looked down at her tiny pale hands that innocently gripped on his core. Sasuke was powerless to stop her. Being so forceful yet loveable—that was Hinata's power over him. If anyone else—persay Sakura— tried that on him, it would backfire. He wouldn't hesitate to hurt that person. But because it was Hinata—he had absolutely no power to stop her or pull away from her embrace.

He keeps on being reminded. He loved her.

Her voice sounded muffled as she buried her lips onto his sweater, "but please...try to make the reunion as brief as possible. Don't do anything you'll regret in the long run because of your emotions."

Her soft, gentle plead delivered the final blow.

"My...important person…"

XxX

* * *

 _A fun piece for those who missed Uchiha family moments -_

Still a tiny infant, Sayu sometimes demonstrated an uncanny ability to understand people. Like that one time when a neighbor said, "Maybe Sayu will be the middle child soon!"

Sayu frowned, and then her pouty lips formed an 'o' shape, "Ouu…" her barely visible brows gathered together on her tiny, round face.

Then came her tearful protest, "Ouuu—wehhhh!" She wailed and the foolish neighbor who dared to imply she be dethroned from her chair of pinkness fled the sight. But the baby's rage was already unleashed.

Hinata tried to shush her crying baby, "dear, dear Sayu, what got you mad, my sweet?"

Teardrops fell from her eyes, and her long, gossamer lashes were matted with tears, "weehhh!"

Sasuke and Fugaku both stood by, watching Sayu with deep concern. But they didn't know what to do, so they stood in salutation. They clasped their hands to themselves respectfully and nervously shuffled their feet. In Hinata's eyes, they looked like employees afraid of crossing their angry boss as they stood by, unable to say or do anything.

Being an experienced mother, Hinata smiled and rocked her baby and cooed, "Shhh—don't be mad, our little Sayu. You're too little for us to already have another one! Shhh-"

Sayu stopped wailing and instead sobbed, as if she was begging her mother to keep comforting her. "Huk-huk-huk-en-enn-engh!" It was pitiful and cute at the same time.

Then Hinata sang, "Mommy and daddy love our Sayu—"

Sasuke was watching them with envy. When he saw how effortlessly Hinata interacted with his intimidatingly cute baby, he was jealous and vying for an opportunity to approach the little girl.

Then he felt he had an opportunity. Even a tone deaf oaf could sing that. It's not a nursery rhyme, just a simple tune. So Sasuke stretched out his hand to Sayu and his stiff tongue clumsily rolled out Hinata's song, "Mommy...and daddy—"

But…

 _Snap_

A pair of white eyes and two pairs of dark eyes widened.

The sweet baby just snapped his hand away. Her little dimpled pudgy hand was in the air after the surprisingly regal snap. And she looked into his surprised dark eyes with angry tears. Her pouty lips pursed as she hiccuped and held in her bout of tears.

In her eyes, he was some disloyal, no-good father who flirts around with mama and tries to make other babies without any care for her. How _dare_ he tries to make other babies when he has her!

Her bare brows slanted down as she said in a telepathic manner

 _You're dead to me._

Her rosy cheeks puffed out as she said again with her adamant gaze. Her tears rolled down her plump cheeks as she sentenced her father to a tragic exile from her presence.

 _You're dead to me._

After that, Sasuke did everything to placate Sayu and even beyond.

Soon the little baby ruled her papa's heart with an iron scepter in her chubby, tiny hand.

Sasuke ended up unable to speak or think of anything if it wasn't in relation to his peach like baby.

"Sayu-" "Sayu!" "Sayu…"

It was the Uchiha's secret that the village's most breathtaking boy had a blast making fun of his father.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Oh my gosh, I didn't know that so many of my readers cared for me so much. And some of you actually followed me from WP (shocks!) Thank you! I am already feeling better. Tthank you, and I love you all. Thank you so much for encouraging me and supporting what I am doing for fun. And please continue to love our little Dino san and Sayu chan and their parents.

And before we go onto the story, we'll see our Fugaku and Sayu show some fan service.

(Fugaku enters in a green dinosaur suit, with Sayu chan in a baby stroller. Sayu looks at Reader chan with her big light lilac eyes. She has a pacifier in her mouth that looks like a piece of candy. Then she waves something in her small pudgy hand.

Fugaku (in a monotonous voice): Sayu said she wanted to give something.

In her hand was a little yellow star, the same star she gave Sasuke in his birth dream. She keeps waving it in her little hand as looks at Reader chan with bright eyes. While sucking on her candy pacifier.

Fugaku (blushes): Th-thanks for showing your support... I guess...(grunts and turns away but is unable to leave Sayu's side. He shoves his hands into his pockets) whatever.

* * *

In the middle of the deep forests, a tall man flitted from one bough to another. His movement caused the wind to slice apart as if his body took on a shape of a knife. His face wore a deep scowl as he raced towards the forest. He almost cursed as he looked around the forest. Then his eyes widened as he finally caught the object of his search.

When he finally landed on a green plot of plain, he glared at the man who has his back turned to him.

Through gritted teeth, he spat out, "So...to what do I owe the pleasure of having you come all the way to this place?"

When the man didn't answer, Sasuke yelled, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

The addressed man finally turned to him and made a sad smile, "I gave up being a Waker and handed the place to the Akatsukis. Now I'm just living my childhood dream."

There were no formalities such as asking how they have been. Too much time, too much battles, and misunderstandings got in the way of their friendship. There was a strain that felt like something caught in the throat and weighing on the chest.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and mused how time made him look different. He looked stiffer, and his facial expressions were not as lively and varied as before. He also trimmed his hair, which made him look sterner and more imposing than his youthful days.

Naruto also looked at Sasuke with quiet scrutiny and then made a faint smile, "You look different, Sasuke. You look a lot better."

Sasuke didn't answer. At the back of his mind, all he could think about was Hinata and his children. Fugaku was just learning how to set up hunting traps for wild birds, and Sayu has finally started to coo and turn her head a little but. She was just two weeks! They'll have to wait a week more to hear her gurgle and coo more often. And how could he ever forget Hinata's smile as she nurses Sayu with her teat. When he sees her smile like that, he feels like a boy again. Sasuke knew that Naruto was going to ask about Hinata.

As if he was talking by himself, Naruto went on, "It's weird. I achieved the dream I always wanted. But… I don't feel as excited about it."

Naruto looked at Sasuke's serious face and tried to lighten up the mood. He shrugged and smiled. His whisker marks rose as he smiled, "Then I got bored so I decided to just go around here and there. Met some punks. Then—"

Sasuke said testily, "Naruto, get to the point." For some reason, seeing Naruto trying to lighten up about his solitary life made him feel a sharp twinge in his chest. Something deeply unsettling, nauseating, and painful. Guilt, yes, he was feeling guilt.

Naruto looked at him quietly, "To be honest… I wanted to know how you two were doing, but I thought it wouldn't be 'proper' for the hokage to leave his post just to look for his old mates."

Anger made way to Sasuke's voice, "No. You've been wanting to look for us. You just wanted an excuse."

Naruto yelled in protest as if they were just bickering, "Hey-no need to be so rude to an old pal!"

But then he heard a woman's soft voice, "No, you're wrong this time Sasuke kun."

Fury made his eyes blaze with intensity. There was only one woman in his life who could call him by that name—Hinata chan. But he knew who dared to show such audacity and familiarity.

From the shadows emerged a woman with short pink hair.

Naruto covered his eyes and emitted a sigh of frustration, while Sasuke looked at her as if she was some sort of abomination. He honestly thought that seeing Naruto was enough, but now he knows that the worst has yet to come. All he wanted was to live a life of peace with Hinata and their children. Was it that much to ask?

But then maybe it was. He has committed many crimes. It was too much for him to live in such happiness. If there was such thing as a divine power, did it send Naruto and Sakura?

Sakura made a sad smile, "How are you doing, Sasuke kun?"

Ignoring the pain in her eyes, Sasuke glared at Naruto, demanding an explanation. His jaw clenched as he fought to hold onto his last piece of sanity. He felt as if he just ran laps, as his heart beat erratically.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura sheepishly, "Teme-"

"Shut up," his tone could slice iron, "don't call me by that name. I knew Sakura always had a hold on you, but you're not a shinobi, you're not a man."

Despite receiving such a harsh insult, Naruto still tried to explain, "Sakura and I are getting married this year, Sasuke."

"But before we get married," Sakura spoke with urgency, "I needed to talk with-"

"You haven't changed," Sasuke interrupted with a crooked smile that looked more like a snarl. His eyes were freezing cold. His face looked as if it was carved of ice.

Sakura closed her eyes shut as if she was pressing down the pain, "I know."

This time, he knew he effectively shut her down. So he turned to Naruto, his next target, "And don't lie to me. You two are not getting married."

When Naruto looked at him with surprise, he snorted, "Even a seven year old could see through that lie." His son Fugaku would never fall for such blatant lie, no matter how young. He would turn his head away haughtily and snort at such childish lie. Like his father, Fugaku wasn't tolerant of others who he viewed as below him in conduct.

Sasuke turned towards the direction of his home and spat, "I believe we're done here."

When he turned his back to her, she cried, "Do you think that Hinata really loved you more than I did?"

He almost stopped in his track. He felt his knuckles cracking as his fingers twitched. Sakura claimed that she loved him but she also knew how to strike where it hurt. He was already insecure about his wife's love, because it sometimes felt too good to be true. He wasn't a sappy kind of character, but it truly was a miracle that Hinata had a change of heart and decided that it was worth spending the rest of her life with a sick person like himself. Hinata was wise to see so much in Naruto and see him the way he was (broken and egotistical) when others failed to do so. Also, it took forever to convince her—number one, "yes, you were right for choosing Naruto over me," and number two, " but please, do consider, because I am selfish and this is the closest thing to love I could ever feel for someone other than myself."

He sighed. He really missed Hinata.

When he didn't answer and kept walking, Sakura went on, "Hinata doesn't love you, Sasuke. She loves the love and security you give her, but she doesn't love you!"

She bowed her head and screamed,

"You're only able to live with Hinata like that because Naruto and I gave up what we deserve!"

Then she started when she saw Sasuke's dull lavender eye with spiraling ringlets glare at her amid his dark hair.

It was a stroke of mercy on Sasuke's part for letting her on with her deluge of nonsense. She always wanted to play the victim. That was what Sasuke told himself as he turned away from the two. Right now, he just really wanted to see Hinata.

* * *

When Sasuke walked out from the forests and looked at the village, his eyes widened in shock and he stepped back.

His face turned ashen pale as he looked at the familiar buildings, the electric poles, and the familiar paths.

'No, this couldn't be,' he told himself, but it was true. He was in Konoha, the village in his home, the Land of Fire. 'But how...'

When he turned around, he wasn't ready for the second wave of shock.

"Teme!"

Naruto appeared. But he looked brighter and happier. Happiness seemed to radiate from his face like a beacon. Sasuke felt unknown fear creeping into his chest. Usually, when he saw Naruto's face glow like that, it was foreboding.

"Naruto, what did you just do—"

But he cut in—

"How was spending time with Sakura and Sarada?"

Sasuke stared.

When he looked at his face, Naruto raised his brow.

"Didn't you come back a few days ago? So you did spend time with your family right?"

Sasuke couldn't say anything.

Naruto looked at him and scratched the back of his head and sighed. Then in a tone of genuine grievance,

"Sasuke, maybe I shouldn't have named my son after a ramen topping. Boruto is too much like me."

'...Son?'

"Naruto, wait!" He tried to accost him, but Naruto was faster.

Without waiting for an answer, he left. He made a saluting sign.

"Well, catch you later! If Boruto asks where I am, don't tell him. I have work to do."

Naruto smiled and disappeared.

Then a mini Naruto appeared soon after. He was wearing a dark jumper and had Naruto's characteristic scowl of frustration. He matched pass him and ran to the opposite direction Naruto went.

When he also vanished, after muttering how he was going to hunt down his father, Sasuke stood rigid like stone. His gaze fell to the ground. It was almost as if he was knocked at the back of his head. It was like a slap on his face. At that time, he couldn't feel anything.

"No, this can't be..."

Then he felt her chakra. Calm and billowing softly like a lazy cloud or a rippling stream. It was as if she was calling his name. _Sasuke._

As he headed to where he could feel Hinata's chakra, he felt his chest constricting at every step. 'No, no, no, no,' this can't be.'

When he went to the bustling streets, he stopped and stared. There she was, holding a little girl's hand as she walked in the streets. In her arm was a bag of groceries.

Her pale, delicate hand was holding a little girl's. When he saw the blue eyes and whisker marks on the little girl's face, his heart churned as if it was getting reeled by two steel wheels.

"Oka-san, Boruto is chasing father again!" The girl chirped.

In the voice he knew so well, Hinata giggled,

"I wonder when your brother and father are coming home for dinner, Himawari~"

The girl seemed to be around five years old. He didn't know if it was the fact she had a daughter and son with Naruto or the bright smile on her face that caused all the blood to rush to his ears. All he could hear was the buzzing sound rushing, undulating in different lows and pitches. It was the same sensation as getting punched on the gut and right before spatting blood.

Same height, same stature, but with a short haircut. She was wearing a light purple hoodie over a white T shirt and a midi length skirt. Her brown flats looked well worn.

"Is dad coming home early today, mama?"

Hinata smiled and rubbed her thumb affectionately on her palm, "I wish he was, Himawari...Being a great hokage is a big responsibility."

"Can girls be hokages too?"

Her face lit up at her daughter's question, "Of course! There was a great seinen who became hokage, and she was a woman."

For some reason, he thought if he stood like that, watching her, she'll look at him. That she'll see him. But if she sees him, then what? What did he even want?

But even when she glanced at his direction, she just turned her gaze back to Himawari and smiled brightly.

"Let's have egg dish tonight, Himawari~"

And like that, she passed by his side as if he wasn't even there. When she passed, it was as if she took Sasuke's soul with her too.

Like a mad man, he followed her. Pushing against the pedestrians, he stalked behind her. His dark eyes stared at her like a lost soul, and he felt his throat drying up like sand.

But when he actually saw her head to her home, an apartment compkex, he didn't have the courage to go up to her door.

When he knocked, he was greeted instead by Boruto.

When Boruto flung the door open and tried to land a punch, he blocked him as easily as if he was a baby, but his focus was all on the woman in the house.

The woman with short deep blue hair looked at the two and smiled as she watched.

'Just one sign that you're unhappy in this marriage...Just one sign, please...' he prayed as he looked at her eyes.

But he couldn't find even one.

He doubted that all the sharingan or rinnegan in their glory wouldn't be able to seek any trace of shadow in her smile.

When he saw her smile, he stupidly asked,

"Where is Naruto?" He inquired in monotone.

"He's at work, I believe" was her polite reply. The kind of politeness that was appropriate to show towards her husband's enigmatic friend. He could tell that she was doing her best to look calm as she smiled. But her eyes seemed wary and the way she smiled had a tense edge.

He desperately looked at her for a sign that she was unhappy in this marriage, but all he could see that _he_ was making her unhappy. It was best that he left her alone with her family.

He turned and when he was at the demarcated exit of Konoha, he ran into the Forest of Death. He ran. And ran.

Until he saw Naruto, looking at him as if he expected him.

Sasuke's eyes turned glowing red and the legendary light spiraling lavender as his hand churned out lightning. The lightning blasted into a ring of electricity around him, causing the ground to shake. He whipped out the kusanagi that was hidden under his cloak and charged. Blue lightning counteracted with bright white, and the world broke apart into shards like glass.

He aimed at Naruto's stomach and whipped his sword and butted the end of his weapon exactly at the middle.

Naruto almost forgot to breath at the shock of the blow and coughed blood.

He managed to leap on his feet instead of land on his back, but he already looked exhausted.

Wiping the blood coming from his mouth, Naruto smiled, wispily, "So you're not going to fall for it?"

To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke smiled. But it was not a friendly, "oh, Naruto you old prankster," congenial smile. Far from it.

Sasuke made a haunting smile at the hokage and former First Waker as he dug the tip of his sword into his tan throat.

"I used to be the Shadow Waker. Did you think I will fall for such trick?"

But his lips stopped smiling but his dark eyes were still manic as he raised his katana.

His cold voice echoed, as if it was the death sentence of an ice king.

"You shall die." And he swung the silver edge onto his chest.

"Hey, hey, hey, hear me out before you decide to kill me."

Naruto sweated as he landed on the ground with Sasuke hovering above him with his sword, his foot planted firmly on his diaphragm. Naruto waved his hands placatingly, but his nemesis continued to look at him as if he was going to rip him apart.

In a way, Sasuke was impressed. As demented as he himself is, Naruto's ability to be colloquial even when a lightning charged blade was cutting the skin of his throat was impressive and consistent. Right now, Sasuke's intention to kill pierced every inch of Naruto's face like needles.

"This is all just an illusion jutsu, Sasuke. I just re-enacted what I thought would be the future if you just went with the flow."

Then the hokage carefully held kusanagi's blade and pushed it away. When Sasuke stepped back, he felt fresh air coming back to his lungs and coughed.

He rubbed his throat,

"I did it because I needed to know that Hinata is really your everything, as you claim it to be. And now I think we have a pretty solid case."

He rubbed the back of his head, "But honestly, I didn't know you would react like that to this illusion."

Sasuke spoke in a chilling monotone, as he adjusted his grip on his sword, "You thought I wouldn't lay my hands on you?"

"I mean I knew that you were going to stake my head on a stick, but I didn't think you would react that way to 'Uzumaki Hina—"

Suddenly, without warning, Sasuke flung his sword to the ground and punched Naruto on the face.

His chest rose and sank erratically as he stared at Naruto whose back landed on an innocent oak tree that nearly splitted by the pressure.

Groaning, Naruto went on, "hey, hear me out."

Sasuke decided that if he didn't like what he is saying, he'll cut his yapping tongue or stake his sword into his jaw.

"I'm actually not so reckless as to destroy my friend's happiness, even if he's a shitty friend--taking away the girl of my life before I even got to realize that she even liked me, sealing me for thousands of years, reincarnating at the same time Hinata wakes up and still decides to seal me away-"

Sasuke breathed roughly as he glared at him.

Smiling with a sense of defeat, Naruto dusted off his knees and trudged away. He allowed the dark to swallow him as he walked closer to the deep forests.

But before he left, he said,

"Just...don't make her sad, Sasuke. There isn't a day when I don't think of Hinata. She was more than just a Waker's Pearl or my village friend. You know that."

Then he disappeared and Sasuke was alone, staring at the splintered oak tree.

* * *

When Sasuke arrived home, the first thing he did was run to Hinata. Hinata has just came out from Sayu's nursery, and she smiled as soon as she saw Sasuke rush to her.

Then her smile turned to a look of surprise when Sasuke started stroking her face.

"Sasuke," she tilted her head to the side in confusion, "is something wrong?"

"No, no, no" Sasuke shook his head and hugged her tightly, "Nothing's wrong. Nothing." His large hand gripped the back of her head as he hugged her.

Then he grabbed her shoulders with a vice grip. There was pure desperation in his eyes.

He trembled faintly as he remembered the agony he felt when he went through the illusion.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: updated chap!My advisor professor and her minion are psychotic bitches. Planning to move school soon.

* * *

Hinata sighed in contentment as she felt her daughter's plump cheek smushed against her bare shoulder. That means Sayu has finally fell asleep, after some back-patting, butt-patting, and pacing around. She couldn't believe how tiny her daughter was, even leaner and softer than Fugaku when he was her age. She used to think that Fugaku was a lean baby, but it was as if Sayu hardly had strong bones. She was so soft to the touch.

She surveyed the nursery room that she decorated with Fugaku's help. The walls were warm ivory and there were tiny shelves hung on the top corners of the room, where stuffed bunnies perched with some little alphabet books. There was a tall bookshelf next to the crib that were filled with books Fugaku read as a toddler, like "Crane Bride" or the "Grandma who went to the underground world." A string of soft pastel colored fluff balls hung on the warm pale beige wall behind the crib. On the other wall, Hinata hung a square quilt of pastel toned patch work.

Sayu was so fragile in Hinata's arms. Holding her tiny baby, she paced around in the nursery. She patted her baby's back softly, lulling her to deeper sleep.

Sayu's sweet eyes were closed, and her feathery brown lashes cast over her plump mochi cheeks. Her shiny red lips were pressed firmly together as she slept.

When she decided to lay Sayu down in her crib, she gently balanced her baby in her arms as she leaned over the baby's bed. She placed Sayu's butt on the mattress first and then softly laid her head down. Hinata made it look so easy, but the truth was she always felt her abs quivering as she hovered over the crib with her baby in her arms over the crib's bar rail. And she was nervous that Sayu would wake up and she will have to start all over again.

Thankfully, she succeeded in laying down her daughter. But that was when Sayu's thinly pressed red lips curved upward and the little baby started to frown.

Sayu protested the sudden loss of her mother's warmth and scent of milk.

"Ooh, weh...hek.." Sayu's lips turned upside down but she had her eyes closed. Her long and thick light brown eyelashes looked almost silvery underneath the night light.

Knowing that was her last chance before she opens her eyes,Hinata shushed her baby,

"Shhh..." and patted her butt in a slow rhythm. Calmed by her patting, Sayu relaxed slowly, ceased her whimpering,and fell into deep sleep.

When Hinata gazed at her sleeping baby girl's face, she felt giddy with happiness.

The gentle light cast by the rotating mood lamp colored Sayu's cute sleeping face. Her little red lips were shiny with saliva. Her lips looked like cherries, and her cheeks, though a little too red and slightly scaly from the dry climate, had just the right amount of roundness. Hinata gazed at her daughter as she turned on the humidifier.

She looked like an angel, she thought. Smiling, Hinata stood up and stretched her stiff back and arms. Then she turned off the rotating mood lamp, casting the room in comfortable darkness. Then she quietly, quietly closed the door.

She has just came out from Sayu's nursery, and she smiled as soon as she heard Sasuke's footsteps padding up the wooden stairs.

She looked up to him and was about to ask him if he had dinner. The spring evening was nice and calm and she wanted to know if he wanted tea.

Then her smile turned to a look of surprise when she saw the downcast, desperate look on his face and he started stroking her cheeks and long hair. Usually, if he shows a sudden strong urge to touch her, that meant he was feeling stressed for some reason. She pulled herself to him closer so he could feel her heartbeat and warmth. When she touched his wrist, she felt as if she just grabbed his madly beating heart. She must have touched a frantic nerve.

"Sasuke," she tilted her head to the side in confusion, "is something wrong?"

He quickly said, "No, no, no" as in fear and denial. Sasuke shook his head and hugged her tightly, making her gasp by the suddenness of his embrace. Her nose and rest fo her face were buried into his firm, hard chest. She could feel his erratic heart beat. He hoarsely said, "nothing's wrong. Nothing." His large hand gripped the back of her head as he hugged her. He let out a throaty gnarl as she squirmed in response to his territorial embrace.

Hinata looked at him and tried to ask the same question but decided against it. She carefully raised her arms around him and held him. She inconspicuously sniffed his clothes and murmured with a frown, "you are sweating and shaking...Sasuke, what happened?"

He looked at Hinata and his hands traced all over her clothes as if figuring whether she was real or not. His large hands grabbed both sides of her hips and moved up and down her curves. Her long lashed eyes fluttered, casting shadow over her pale cheeks, as she looked at him. She kept murmuring softly, "Sasuke, did meeting Naruto cause you pain?" But she was already feeling angered even though she tried to not show it. Did her past master try to hurt her husband and ruin their relationship? If he did, then she will confront him with everything she had. She wasn't the past Waker's Pearl. She was Uchiha Sasuke's one and only wife with two darling children who need her protection and the only surviving matriarch who could carry on the Uchiha bloodline. She has responsibilities to take care of her two beautiful children whose well being was inseparable from Sasuke's. Waker or not, hokage or not, he had absolutely no right to take that away from her.

She immediately felt his body stiffen at her words. Suddenly, she was scared of seeing her husband's face. Maybe it wasn't Naruto she had to worry about, but her husband. After a moment of pause, Sasuke let out a deep sigh and further buried her in his arms. His warm breath fumed over her neck.

That was when he said,

"This...is not my place."

Before she could get over the shock of his words, he continued in his low, melancholy voice,

"I do not belong here."

His words were like ice cold torrent slapping her face from above the sky. She knew that someday he might feel tired and suffocated by the small villagetown life, but her concerns lessened after seeing how much he cared for Fugaku and Sayu. Se believed that Sasuke wouldn't ever leave their children just to pursue being a shinobi again. But his words shattered her belief. He didn't want to be here. He grew tired of their normal life.

Hinata trembled, feeling hot rage surge within her,

"How-how could you say that?" She trembled in anger and hurt.

She fought the tightness of his wrapped arms, but he refused to let her go. When she looked up to him, he looked surprised and shocked by her sudden outburst. Exasperated, she started to beat his wide chest with her fists.

She started tearing up, as she beat him. Now sadness overtook anger.

"How could you say that..? How dare you." She started violently shaking, not knowing what to do with her broken heart, "Fugaku needs you. Our little Sayu needs you—I—"

He said firmly "Hinata" as he arrested her wrists in his iron grip and tried to make her look at him.

But she bowed her head and refused to look at him.

She said bitterly,

"I'm going to pretend that I never heard this—"

That was when he shouted her name with pent up emotions,

"Hinata!"

She raised her voice too, "if you want to be famous again, then I can't support you-"

This was their first quarrel as a married couple.

Then they both heard a light whimper.

"Uuh..."

They both snapped their heads towards the closed door to Sayu's room. Hinata felt her heart fell to pieces.

" **Wahhh**!"

She wiped off her tears with the back of her hand as she turned the door knob to Sayu's room.

After a few minutes of shushing and cuddling, luckily, Sayu was comforted and her mama got to lay her down on bed. Sayu's little pudgy hand reached for her mama as she was laid on bed, but went limp as she fell asleep. She resisted falling sleep and tried to hold onto the dimming sight of her mama's lovely face but she lost to the sleep that overcame her.

Hinata rested her hands over the bed rail and looked down at her sleeping daughter. She was fast asleep, her flat chest rising up and down beneath her dimpled chin. She felt Sasuke's presence behind her, but she refused to look at him. She was hurt by his words. After everything they fought for, how could he say that this wasn't his place? She loved him. Fugaku loved him. Sayu needs her father.

"Sasuke,"

Sasuke just looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Do you want to be a shinobi?" She felt her throat closing in and nose flaring in heat, "did seeing Naruto make you remember your times of glory?"

Sasuke scowled, his eyes looking almost crimson in his temporary loss of control of his emotions,

"I don't have any attachment to those times. You know that better than anyone."

"Do I? Do I know you?" Her voice quivered as she gripped on the bed rail.

Sasuke looked at her. Even if he couldn't see her face, he knew she was angry. He was offended that she would judge him to be such a vain, trivial lightweight. But he couldn't help but realize how beautiful she looked by gentle glow of the baby's unicorn night light. Her long indigo hair cascading down her back and her arms. As she stood in front of their little, delicate baby.

When they both left Sayu's nursery, Hinata tried to storm down to the kitchen but Sasuke clasped her hand and led her to their bedroom.

He sighed, 'she has quite the temper. Nobody knows it but when she's angered, she could be even more emotional than me.'

Hinata dragged her feet along but she nonetheless relented after Sasuke's simple but breathless "please." He squeezed her hand as a silent communication of his love for her.

When they both entered, Sasuke closed the door. Hinata crossed her arms and stood in the middle of the room, staring down on their queen sized bed. She was still angry and very hurt.

Sasuke regretted not giving her the context, but it was too late now. Now, he had to fix it. He has to bare his soul to her. That was the only thing she'll accept now. He loathed doing it, but marriage meant doing a lot of things he didn't want to do. The chief being swallowing his pride.

He went up to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind and started to speak.

"Hinata, what I meant was,"he bit his bottom lip as his face showed his inner turmoil, "what I meant was I am not worthy of all this."

He felt her recoil, but he tightened his arms around her and breathed down her neck. Hinata started as she felt his hot breath cause her minute hair rise on her arms and neck.

She murmured in a low voice, "you're lying." When he tried to interrupt her, she spoke quickly, "If you're not worthy of all this, Fugaku and Sayu, then nobody is. You fought for this."

He perfectly arched brow squinted as he closed his eyes shut and squeezed her further into his embrace. He breathed in the deep lavender scent of her hair. His hot breath fanned the shell of her ear.

"I'm not worthy to be your partner. You're too good of a woman to have children with me. I am definitely not worthy to be father to Fugaku and Sayu."

She couldn't help but turn her face and look up to him, "Why...why?" He was a lot taller so she had to look up.

His onyx eyes gazed down at her worried face for a while and then looked into the distance,

"When I saw Naruto, it came to me..."

Hinata haven't seen Sasuke show so much sadness. Anger and concern, she has seen before, but not such heart breaking sadness. It was as if the weight of his past cast a sinister gloom over his present.

"He should've been the one who has a son and a little daughter with you.

I should've been the one wandering the world alone, not him."

His sculpted profile showed deep self loathing.

"That is what's supposed to happen. That is what makes sense."

Then he bowed his head, and his black hair fell by the side of his face like dark silk.

"But… I took that away from him. I took that life away and claimed it from the beginning."

Then he suddenly tilted his head and kissed her. He kissed as if she was a delicate, fragile being, so different from his usual rough and brash ways of dominating her. "I wanted you, Hinata. You must understand that."

Hinata couldn't bear seeing him in such self torment so she momentarily forgot her anger and turned so she could face him. Sasuke loosened his grip and locked her small form into his embrace and continued his loving, affectionate kisses.

'If things fell into its right place and Fugaku and Sayu never existed,' his fist clenched as if the imagination itself just tore his heart out, 'and I wander the world…'

They hugged each other in silence. Hinata bit her lip. While she was asleep in the pearl, he was all alone. She couldn't fathom his past loneliness. She regretted accusing him of wanting to chase for fame and fortune as a lone shinobi. She let her insecurities get a hold of her.

Sasuke continued speaking more about his sense of guilt at seeing Naruto,

"You would be his good wife. He might've been a better husband,"

He took a slight step back and tucked a stray strand of her dark hair behind her ear. He spoke as in introspection,

"and I would still be in love with you."

Hinata's eyes turned wide, reminding him of twin moons,

"Why-why are you saying such things."

He answered,

"You would always be the sunny place, the light of life to me, even if we were strangers. Married or not, that's not important to me."

Hinata felt her heart thumping like crazy. It was like a confession she never heard him say.

"But to you… If tables turned, Naruto would be the one and only for you."

She put her hands over his chest and struggled for words. She was overwhelmed and she felt her face turning red as fire.

Sasuke held her in his arms again,

"I would still do everything in my power to just have an excuse to see you. If seeing you was impossible, I would've tried to have a second hand relationship with you."

Then he closed his eyes and smiled in self mockery,

"I might even volunteer to be Naruto's son's teacher just to feel close to you."

Hinata didn't understand. She didn't understand Sasuke's words. To her, love and duty were inseparable. That value is inseparable from her background and heritage. Loving in duty is ingrained in her every cell. If she didn't marry Sasuke and instead wed someone else, of course, she can't love him. But Sasuke was saying that he would've still loved her and wanted her even if he was not her husband. Even if she was someone else's wife. On top of that, even if she was his best friend's wife. This didn't make any sense. This was madness.

"Sasuke," she wrapped her arms around him tightly , "why-why are you speaking in-in the hypothetical? Why are you so worried bout this?"

When he fell silent, she felt the unusual urge to shake him. But Sasuke refused to tell her. He refused to talk about Naruto's illusion jutsu where he was married to Sakura. He knew Hinata would be much too shocked. Saying that he met Sakura was out of the question, and telling her that her past master created such jutsu to corner him? That he faced a reality with no Fugaku or Sayu? She would be painfully hurt on his behalf. So he refused to tell her. It was his own way if protecting her. It is enough if he suffers alone about all this until she calms down. At least, he shouldn't tell her now, when she was already hurt by his words.

Hinata hugged him tightly, "Please, we're married, Sasuke. I have nobody but you, because you're my—"

"Husband." he said drily. "And if that idiot was your husband, I would be a nobody. But we're different, Hinata. Even if you were Naruto's wife, I would still want you. But to someone like you..."

Then he suddenly seized her, grabbing her by her shoulders and making her face him with no escape,

"Hinata, tell me...if we weren't married, you would still—"

His usually calm and clouded onyx eyes were focused and heated, but also spooked her by looking like a lost soul's.

Hinata looked up to him, stunned by the anguish in his face. He looked as if he was giving the matter of life or death in her hands.

He snarled as he saw her tear up and unable to answer, feeling the returning sense of predator like possessiveness, "That you would've thought of me and wanted me just the same. Say it, Hinata. Say it."

Hinata trembled,

"I-I love you, Sasuke..."

Tears filled her eyes. Just thinking about a reality where they were not together broke her heart. But why was he forcing her to imagine such reality?

"I love Sasuke my husband. But I..."

She shook her head,

"I can't imagine feeling such thing like 'love' out of wedlock. That is unnatural. It is also a betrayal. I couldn't do it. Especially if I am married."

He gently pulled away from her. Her frail form was shaking. He gradually grew calmer at her words.

He traced her wet cheek with his finger idly, "so if you were someone else's wife... you wouldn't care about me."

Hinata clung to the hem of his shirt sleeve. She said" let's just think about 'now.' Right now, we just have each other."

Then she gently raised her hands and cupped his face,

"Right now, I couldn't bear not loving you, Sasuke."

When he saw the desperate hunger in her teary eyes, he was quieted for a second in stunned silence. Then he growled her name,

"Hinata,"

Then he started tearing down her clothes and kissed her as if he wanted ravage her, not make love to her. He pulled down her cotten sleeve and bared her shoulders and bra clasped breasts. He frowned, 'why does she have to wear a bra at home?' It must be a hassle to feed Sayu milk and wear her bra every time. He preferred her not wearing anything underneath.

She also unbuttoned his shirt from top to bottom, albeit with difficulty, because he was gnawing on her ear with his teeth like a big hunting dog chewing on his favorite toy pressed between its long paws.

As they panted and rolled on the bed sheets, he kept closing his eyes, casting long shadows beneath his dark eyelashes, as he grunted and moved with her.

He rasped, "put your arms around my neck. Now."

Hinata held tight to him by crossing her arms around his neck as he instructed. Her eyes widened when he suddenly grabbed her supple butt and lifted her on his thighs.

As he moved into her, he couldn't help thinking about her. And she couldn't help looking at his half drunk face, his long lashes cast over his pale face in a way that made him look oddly peaceful.

He always knew deep inside Hinata's views of love, duty, and relationships, she could be quite cold and unimaginative. He didn't understand where it came from, but he guessed it must be because she has always thought it was best to love and serve him as a Waker's Pearl, instead as a woman for so long. She always learned and disciplined herself to hide her romantic feelings and desire if it was for the person she loved. In the past, she struggled to hide her feelings for Naruto because she thought he wasn't interested in her and was afraid of being abandoned. That was just how fear and altruism wired her, Sasuke supposed. In fact, in a mysterious way, he was relieved to hear it from herself. It was like dropping a heavy weight from his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Hinata was frustrated, because Sasuke refused to completely take off his pants. When he fell on his back on the mattress, she felt desirous as she stared at his chiseled body. She then crawled on top of him, pressed herself, eliciting a long groan and swear word. As she bobbed up and down, without letting him enter her, she felt his pulsing balls make wet sounds against her clit and slit. But the fly of his pants was scraping against her inner thighs. It wasn't uncomfortable, but she saw how Sasuke was battling to not lose his control over himself. He turned his perfect face away from her and closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip.

Staring from above, her light lavender eyes feasted on his cock that assailed her so mercilessly and thoroughly all those days and nights.

He felt his heart thudding wildly as he looked at her lustful gaze,

"Hinata..." he let out a throaty growl.

When she further pulled down his fly and tried taking off his pants with great effort due to his uncooperative stubbornness, to her great surprise, there was a bright red flush on his aristocratic cheekbones. This wasn't the first time she initiated sex, but the tall, dark, brooding ex-nin looked intensely nervous like a school boy.

He quickly licked his upper lip and rubbed his mouth roughly with his rough, chapped hand in embarrassment,

He stuttered uncharacteristically,

"You-you don't have to do this..."

But when she started cleaning up their secretions by rubbing her supple breasts against his cock, he grunted and looked away as in pain and arousal,

He then turned his face away her, saying in a waning voice, "I'm still...mad at you." Then he grabbed bith of her shoulders and tossed her to the side like a rag doll and turned his back to her in a huff. He crossed his arms to make his point further across.

"Sasuke..!"

But he still kept his back to her like a pouting boy. He reminded her of times Fugaku would fume in rage over something, so similar the father and son looked. From their spiky black hair, pale, strong neck, well developed shoulders that hunched in anger, and the way they sulked.

Sasuke..." she called out to him amorously and touched his shoulder that jumped as if in shock. But he still kept his back resolutely to her.

Hinata frowned. Then an epiphany hit her.

"Sasuke..."

He didn't even grunt in acknowledgement.

Somehow, Sasuke, turning his back to her in a huff, curled in his covers looked cute. And his wide shoulders and perfectly curved spine, fair marble skin, and perfectly toned rock buttom... He was beautiful. Just seeing him made her heart flutter and mouth dry. She wondered if this was how men feel when they see a naked woman.

"Are you...mad at me?"

"..."

She sighed, "You're mad at me...because I said I would never emotionally cheat on Uzumaki san if I chose him?"

He was so quiet that she swore he has ceased breathing.

She spoke gently, "The day we got married...we had nothing but a china bowl of water to sanctify our vow..."

"It was dark in the forest and we put the bowl of clean water on a rock and prayed to the moon's reflection in the little bowl...And we left. That was how we got married."

She stroked his bare back full of scars. She spoke as if she was half asleep.

"But that night...when I saw you standing across me. I remember how you stared down at the water and then start to pray...I never saw you pray before, Sasuke. But when I saw you... bowing your head, eyes closed, your hands together in front of your face... I knew you were going to be my everything."

She approached him carefully and laid her left cheek on his shoulder, "I could never leave you even if I tried." She pressed her lips on the back of his neck, the sensitive spot on his spinal cord.

She closed her eyes as she heard the linen bed sheet crumple under their weight, "do you know that I still look at your dark hakima?"

Suddenly she felt the weight lying next to her on the bed lift and before she could say anything, he seized her in his arms like a beast's jaws swallowing its prey. She couldn't see his blazing onyx eyes staring down at her spine but she felt almost scorched by the heat and tightness of his embrace.

She felt his hand touch her back and his index dragging across her spine. His chin pressed on her shoulder and she was almost cocooned in his embrace. She whispered, "Sasuke-" but he just silently tossed her so she was lying down, stomach flat and cheek pressed to the mattress. Sasuke was really into throwing her around that night. But she also felt how he was doing it so that he could move her around the way he wanted her, position and all, but not roughly as to hurt her or cause her any pain. Even when she fell flat on the mattress suddenly, she could feel the softness and gentleness with which he handled her.

Hinata spoke gently but there was firm strength in her eyes, "please treat me gently as a wife,"

He flattened himself on her, silencing her. She felt the thunderous pulse of his chest drumming on her bare back and his hot cock oozing with pre cum pressing eagerly against her bottom. Sasuke whispered darkly into her ear, "I _am_ treating you as my wife. I think you should start acting like one."

Hinata gasped and tried to glare at him sharply for his impudence, but Sasuke grabbed her hips and lifted her so she has no choice but to stick her ass to him. She blushed. No matter how many times he has taken her in that position, she felt humiliated and excited at the same time. And after his rude and snide comment about Hinata being his property to do with as he pleased, she felt even more embarrassed of her response. As if she was begging on her knees for his thick cock to enter her behind, arms stretched and fingers wide spread on the rumpled sheets. Right after that, he entered her, crying out her name underneath his breath, grunting as he buried his lips into her hair coiling on her shoulders.

When Hinata almost fell to the side as she fought to stay in pace, Sasuke grabbed the side of her hip and helped her keep in balance. Her heart warmed at his care even if he was treating her roughly.

When he amped the speed and pressure of his thrusts, Hinata mewled, "no, please..." she buried her burning face between her hands that gripped onto the sheets.

Thinking how unbearably cute his wife was, Sasuke smirked, "but you are flooding down there, Hina." She blushed as she heard the slapping noise of wet flesh, the wet, sticky friction between her ass and back of her thighs and his cock and strong legs.

"Please tr-treat me as your wife...please," she begged as he pushed up on her.

"You'll make a fine one, if you choose to obey," he looked at her smugly between his cascading dark hair. Suddenly, he felt his hips thrusting against her in his own accord and he felt the rush of heat and bliss overtake him. Hinata moaned as she felt his sweaty palms grip her hips and him discharge warmth inside her. He continued looking down at her shivering form with appraisal, and he slowly slipped from her.

He snickered mischievously when Hinata mewled , "Sasuke..." and collapsed onto the bed. He followed suit and flattened his larger toned body on her, earning an indignant squeak.

" _Anata_ , you're too heavy..." Hinata protested.

"Hnn," he buried his nose into her hair that smelt like sex and white tea, "this is what you get for upsetting me."

"You could be as much as a baby as Fugaku," she laughed. "He tries to act grown up, but he has his way of asking for attention. Just like you."

"..."

"Sasuke?"

"..."

"Sasuke, are you asleep?"

She heard his gentle snoring. She panicked but was hesitant to wake him. 'But he's so heavy!'

"Ooh..." Feeling her husband's weight like a two ton boulder, Hinata sighed.

XxX

As morning came, Sasuke loathed getting up. Hinata was already awake and not in their bedroom. Probably downstairs in the living room or kitchen with Fugaku or in Sayu's nursery.

He wrapped himself in his bed covers and contemplated with a frown,

'I hate mornings.'

When he heard the door opening, he shut his eyes and pretended to still be asleep as he cocooned himself. He felt bad because Hinata was waking up for breakfast, but he really didn't want to wake up and work.

Then he felt Hinata approach him and he felt the slight dip of his mattress in front of his face. It was as if she placed something in front of him on the mattress.

Hinata spoke in a playful melodic voice, the kinda voice heard in children's TV shows,

"Otou-san~ please wa-ake up~~ It's Sayu chan alarm~"

His heart leapt at his daughter's name.

'Sayu?'

He dark eyes snapped open, and the sight before him was enough to disarm him. He felt like melted butter at the sight of Sayu's face close to his, almost contacting his nose.

Hinata had laid their daughter down so that her little cute face could see her father sideways.

Sayu's big light colored eyes blinked and she opened her little cherry lips in a little O shape as she looked at her father. Her plump cheeks made her look like a baby chipmunk.

Hinata smiled as she saw the stunned look on Sasuke's face, which echoed his daughter's wide eyed stunned and curious face.

"Sayu is saying 'daddy daddy please wake up~"

Sasuke couldn't help but break into a short laugh and he rose from his bed to join his family for breakfast. He held Sayu in his arms, father and daughter, and walked towards the kitchen. Then Hinata called Fugaku who answered "Yes!"

* * *

The Uchiha family spent their weekend traveling to a big city in the Land of Waterfall. Fugaku was disappointed to part from his friends and his weekend hobby—hunting, but Sasuke and Hinata promised to take him on hunting for a whole day they get home. They spent the night at a hotel, ate donburi for lunch and shellfish hot pot for dinner, and were heading back home.

Sasuke peered at his daughter's face—Sayu was now two weeks old. She is very inquisitive, and she likes to turn her head side to side and watch her surroundings. She also had big pearl eyes to match.

Her cheeks were round and so soft and touchable, and she was a gentle baby who liked to coo at those she liked.

In the subway, a young man grinned widely at the littlest Uchiha and widened his eyes into a funny look. He squinted his eyes shut and opened them again, his dark pupils staring into opposite directions.

Huddled to her father's chest in her baby wrap, Sayu stared at the man with wide eyes. She was wearing a headband with long bunny ears that swayed by her tiny shoulders. Her wide eyes were the color of lavender tinted glass. She wasn't smiling, but she was unable to take her eyes off fron the weird man. Her long lashed, huge glassy eyes beckoned him to continue his funny show with their intensity. The slight flush of baby pink on her pale cheeks reminded people of peach rice cakes, tempting them to poke her cheek to see it bounce back to its roundness like a mochi. Her round, pale face lacked a smile, but somehow the child's cuteness illuminated her face like a moon.

Hinata smiled shyly at the stranger's antics and patted her baby's plump rear, "do you like ni-chan, Sayu?"

Sayu kept staring at the stranger who blushed at seeing Hinata's smile. Somehow, the man felt as if he got caught doing something bad.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt irritated by the silent communication between his wife and the stranger. He understood that his baby was too cute for her own good, but his wife shouldn't call every young man Sayu's older brother. Plus, the stranger's ears were turning red, and he knew it wasn't because it was hot. The train was cooled consistently.

Sasuke grunted and was more than happy to get off the train with his family and head home.

XxX

"Ah, I kinda wish we stayed longer."

Fugaku made a little whimsical sigh and slumped on the sofa. Hinata smiled as she looked at her son comfortably slumped on the sofa after their family weekend getaway. Sasuke slipped off the wraps of his baby wrap from his shoulders and laid Sayu on the baby mat in the living room. Sayu pursed her lips and flexed her tiny arms and legs and cooed at her father.

"Ehh-" she made light gurgling noises, just like her brother did when he was a baby. But hers was lighter and she liked to smile more than her serious, mischievous brother.

Sasuke couldn't help but smile down at his daughter who pursed her lips and cooed sweetly.", "ooh, ooh."

Her big bright pearly eyes looked even more serious and alert due to her delicate Asiatic crease and baby eyebags. Sasuke tentatively touched her little pink feet as in endearing acts of worship, and Sayu kicked her feet and flexed her little arms.

Hinata asked her son, "did you wash your hands, Fugaku?"

"Yes, mom," Fugaku scratched the back of his neck and smiled—a smile that had a certain boyish charm.

Satisfied, Hinata changed into more confortable clothes, a cotton t shirt and some dark slacks, and got a small light green rectangular plastic tub from a spare room. Her bare feet padded on the wooden floor. Then she headed to the second floor bathroom and turned on the faucet of the bath tub. She felt the water's temperature with her hand.

"It was fun though." Fugaku said to himself, as he remembered playing in the beach. Sayu was way too little to play with him, so he had to mostly swim by himself. But his father soon joined and he loved it even though he pretended to not enjoy it too much. He liked feeling the cold icy water splashed across his face, but he loved splashing water against his dad's face even more. It was just a little annoying when his dad would casually attack him by splashing when he is just floating.

Hinata smiled when she filled the baby's portable plastic bath tub with the ideal temperature and called him from the bathroom, "Fugaku, Sayu is about to take a bath. Do you want to help?"

The dark haired boy leapt from the sofa,

"Sayu...could take a bath? Mom, she'll drown!" He turned aghast as she imagined his little baby sister submerging to the depths, her eyes still wide and bright as she spat bubbles from her pouty lips, "waoo, waoo, wao~" And she'll probably just turn around and wade away into the dark depths by paddling with her little arms and feet. _Good bye~ it was nice knowing you all. Nothing personal~_

When he got that image in his head, he ran up to the bathroom and started panicking.

"Sayu couldn't even sit on her own. How is she going to take a bath?'"

Sasuke secretly smiled but chose to not say anything and held Sayu to his chest as he took off the socks from his feet. He tossed his socks into a nearby laundry bin and walked up upstairs.

Then he took off his daughter's bunny cap. When he saw his son's look of surprise, he smirked.

Right when Fugaku saw his sister's head, he exclaimed, "Sayu is so bald!" Of course he saw his sister without her darling pink suncap or flower patterned headbands before, but she looked even balder because the bright light cascading from the bathroom light bulbs illuminating her faint brown dusting of hair on her head.

"Fugaku!" Hinata tried to admonish her son but she couldn't hide her laughter.

Fugaku retorted with innocent certainty,

"But mother, she has no hair!" He didn't mean to insult his little sister but he never saw old pictures of him where he was bald!

Then he crossed his arms and declared,

"She looks like an alien."

Hinata tried to be the voice of reason to her still young son who pretended to be grown up,

"Stop teasing your sister, Fugaku. All babies start off looking a little...squished."

Hinata started the process of giving Sayu her first bath by accepting Sayu's naked body in her arms. Sayu flexed her little arms and pudgy legs, as she was laud gently into the warm water. Her pale skin turned a rosy shade of pink at the heat and steam.

Sasuke murmured a joke,

"There should be a neck here somewhere."

Fugaku looked at how Sayu's little round head seemed connected to her chest and shoulders and laughed, "A bulldog alien." His statement caught Sasuke completely off guard as he turned his head away to muffle his laughter. Her slightly alert, big shiny eyes did make her look a little like a vigilant pitbull pup. And her little but broad shaped nose looked like a lion cub's nose. And her eyebrows were nearly invisible except for the few sparce hair on the browbrone.

Fugaku exclaimed, "She has no eyebrows!"

Hinata placed a big smooch on her baby's temple, "all aliens can't be this cute." Sayu's glassy eyes widened to an almost impossible degree on her little round face. Fugaku laughed, thinking how funny Sayu's stunned expression was.

"She looks even more like an alien!"

"If aliens are all this cute, Fugaku," his mother smiled, "I wouldn't mind them taking over the world."

XxX

That night, dozens of baby aliens in astronaut suits who looked just like Sayu flew the space ship and came to invade the earth.

Fugaku cried, "what is happening? No! Nooo!" 

"Waboo, waboo, ooo" was their language and they started destroying all the tomatoes on earth with their laser guns.

In his bed, Fugaku sweated and moaned, "no...stop...I'm sorry... I'll...never...tease you..."

He was very relieved that it was just a dream.

XxX

Sasuke looked at his baby and carefully approached her. Then he nuzzled the end of his nose against Sayu's. He closed his eyes and inhaled softly.

She smelt like warm soap and Hinata's milk.

She was the most precious little thing. Hinata said and he had to agree. He thought as he kept his eyes closed.

Then he felt a ghost of a touch and he slowly opened his eyes. Her tiny fingers slightly touched his face and moved in the air. She still had her eys closed but her lips gathered into a little protruding pout as if she was a baby bird. His dark eyes looked at her with a kind of softened intensity. Then he gently tapped on her protruding lips with his finger, and she grinned as in sleep before quickly shutting her lips.

"Sayu," he murmured, "your grandmother would have loved you...Your grandmother used to always complain about not having a girl."

That night he kept holding her and fell asleep on the rocking chair.


	13. Chapter 13

_a month later_

There was one morning ritual Sasuke needed everytime to get out of bed. He cannot do without it.

It was utmost necessity, especially when work could be stressful and he's not looking forward to starting the day.

If Hinata forgets to deliver it, he will lie in bed all day just to get her to bring what he craved every morning. Yes, he was spoiled, but he absolutely needed it to gain the energy to get up. Even if he misses breakfast, he was determined to go through the morning ritual.

And it wasn't a warm cup of coffee or sencha green tea. Or even Hinata's soft kiss on his forehead slightly covered by his dark strands of hair. It was...

"Ring, ring, ring~" Hinata slightly giggled as she spoke in a melodic tone.

Still closing his eyes, Sasuke smiled underneath his covers. Hinata always managed to sound like a shy but cheerful little girl. It was adorable. He knew it was a sappy feeling, but he could imagine her still giggling sweetly when she turns eighty. But he waited patiently for the best part of the morning.

"Daddy, daddy, please wake up. It's Sayu chan alarm!"

As a signal, he switched his position to sideways. He felt something heavy press on the mattress in front of his bed. He tried to cover his stupid smile with his bed cover and he slowly opened his eyes in excitement.

But instead of Sayu's sweet innocent face, he saw a glum, 7 year old reflection of himself locking eyes with him.

When he saw his father's dumbfounded expression, Fugaku made a smug grin. He obviously saw through his father's ill concealed gleeful face. And he relished the fact that he tricked his stoic father.

But Sasuke wasn't so amused. He sighed and sluggishly rose fron the bed.

Then suddenly he tackled Fugaku, throwing his upper body over Fugaku and slamming him on the bed.

"Fa-Father!"

Fugaku yelled for help but there was obvious mirth in his face. His entire face just seemed sparkling with joy and mischief. Hinata giggled in the backdrop, happy that she and her son got to loosen up Sasuke. Morning Sasuke tends to be grumpiest.

"Mom, mom! Dad is squeezing me, ow!"

Even though she was part of the ploy, her delicate sensibilities caused her to worry about her son,

She reached her hand, " _Anata_ , be careful!"

"Mom, dad is —wahaha, stop!"

She frowned at his hand that grabbed the end of a battered pillow and said "Fugaku, no pillow fighting!"

But as if he didn't hear her, he lifted the pillow above his head.

Finally Hinata put both hands on her hips and put her foot forward.

"Boys, boys! Please!" Hinata raised her voice with stern authority. "I already have my hands full with Sayu! You need to get ready yourselves or you'll both be late!"

Both "boys" obediently detangled from each other.

" _Hai..."_

With her white eyes firm on them, Hinata said, "make sure you two make your beds," and walked out of the room and headed to the nursery.

 _"_ Hn," Sasuke looked down at his son when Hinata left to fetch Sayu, "Thanks a lot."

Fugaku almost chortled, "what are you, my age?"

He looked at his father as if he was out of his wits and turned his face away haughtily, "Hn!" Then he marched out of his parents' bedroom with bedraggled dignity. He pretended to not have heard his dad's deep chuckle.

Sasuke shook his head and got up from the bed. When he placed his feet on the wooden floor, the thought of collapsing back to the bed swept him over like a wave.

But when he thought of his month and a half old daughter's face, he started to beam like a lovestruck fool. His son accused him of being a "daughter's fool," but he didn't care. He hoped he could see his daughter's awake face before he goes to work. So Hinata could hold her and wave her baby's hand to her daddy outside the door. At such moments, Sayu was too young to understand the concept of someone waving good bye, so she would stare at the green shrubs in the garden or just stare at her father while her mother shook her wrist playfully. But at the same time, he loved seeing Sayu fast asleep. Sayu was, for all his dry, cut throat vocabulary, just a marvel to look at. Her big light lavender eyes that catch the light as she daydreams and gazes at others, her small broad shaped nose, and her cheeks, her chubby thighs and little porky feet. She was a little girl in her little world—simply adorable. He knows it is dumb but when he sees her face, he couldn't help from saying aloud, "aren't you a little, pretty thing?"

Feeling fluttery, he went to his daughter's nursery as quietly as possible. He suddenly felt lighter in his steps and his heart started beating as his feet padded on the wooden floor. As he got closer to her nursery, he smiled, 'Fugaku is right. I am a daughter's fool. She got me wrapped around her little finger." But the scariest part was... he hardly minded. If it was for Sayu, he could look ten times stupider than he does now.

When he rested his lean, rough hand on the door frame and peered in, he saw Hinata looking over the crib. Sayu must still be fast asleep.

When Hinata turned around, she saw Sasuke and headed towards him, "Could you please try to wake Sayu? It's time for her breakfast, but she's sleeping in."

Sasuke frowned, "She's just a baby. You should let her sleep in."

Hinata locked eyes with him and rested her hands on her hips and took in a deep breath. Sasuke suddenly felt a little nervous even though his face didn't show.

"Sasuke, Sayu is almost two months old, and she has to have her own sleeping and feeding schedule or else it would be too hard to get her to sleep during night and eat during day. Fugaku was a easy baby, but Sayu needs structure. While you were in a field trip, Fugaku would come up to me and say he couldn't sleep because of her crying. Now I don't work as much, but when I get back to work, she might miss meals or get si-"

" _Tsuma_ , you wanted me to wake her up, right?" Looking a little dazed and intimidated by his wife's fiery nagging, he hurriedly walked towards Sayu's crib.

Hinata secretly smiled and went downstairs to have just a few bites of breakfast with Fugaku.

When Sasuke saw Sayu's face though, he felt his resolve to wake her up melt away like snow. It felt like an unbearable act of cruelty to wake his baby up, as she looked like an absolute angel. He who used to maurade hundreds in a blink of an eye, felt intense guilt at the idea of waking his infant daughter. Her plump cheeks, softly closed eyelids, and translucent dewy skin were all so delicate. The way she breathed through her dewy nose and her pouty red lips all melted his heart and made him want to lie down by his daughter and watch her sleep. The cupid bow of her upper lip and the curve of her plump pouty lower lip made her lip look like a rosy heart, an infant replica of her mother's. He wondered if it was true as the neighbors say, that Sayu has taken after her mother completely. But she was still so young, and maybe the eye color played a large part. Sasuke felt a little pang of jealousy when he remembered the neighbors all agreeing that Sayu took after Hinata. But he had to admit that between the two of them, Hinata was definitely the cuter one. But surly some would recognize this adorable creature as his child.

But whether that was true or not, didn't seem to matter. He can't believe that such a cute creature could exist, let alone be his daughter. She was a sleeping beauty.

But wake her up, he must. It's not like he could take a break from his job to take care of Sayu, or Hinata could take a longer break. He would love to work at home with Sayu, but grand scale projects like kimono tailoring requires working in his studio. He felt bad that he had to wake her up because of the necessity of a nap and feeding schedule. He leaned over the crib and spread his strong lean hand over Sayu's breathing chest.

He gently shook her and whispered, "Sayu..." his hand was very gentle but there was no denying that his hand made him capable of many skills—including violence. But he touched his daughter as if she was made of porcelain.

Sayu looked like a perfect sleeping doll as Sasuke shook her. Her lashes were astonishingly long and lips red and cheeks damask rose. Sasuke called her name slightly louder, "Sayu-"

"Oohh" Sayu's fine brows furrowed, and her closed eyelids squinted, and her ruby lips went upside down.

Sasuke bent his legs and picked her up gingerly in his arms. He gently bounced the irritated baby up and down.

"Ooh-weh!" Sayu protested and started her morning fussing.

Then he placed her on his chest, the way he saw Hinata do it, and patted her little, soft back.

"Shhh..." he hushed and patted her back gently.

"Ooh...oom..." she rubbed her cheek on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke felt his daughter's little fluttery heart and her baby breath fanning his neck.

" _Gomen,"_ Sasuke spoke in a husky, soothing voice, "but mama said that it's time to wake up."

Then he went to the bathroom with Sayu.

Sasuke gazed at their reflection on an oval shaped mirror hung on the bathroom wall. The baby kept rubbing her little nose against his shoulder as if her nose was itchy. She looked like a bunny rabbit grooming its face with its paws. Then he went out and walked across the hallway.

Sasuke made a subtle smile, gazing at his lean callused hands holding her up in his arms. His eyes looked downward and his black lashes softly fluttered, "so don't be mad at me. Be mad at your mother." That was his best attempt at a dad's joke.

But it seemed Sayu liked it. She stopped squirming and whining and surveyed her surroundings beyond Sasuke's shoulders with her big light lilac eyes.

All she could see was the view beyond her daddy's shoulder. But she seemed so entranced by the sudden elevated view that her irritation melted away. She gazed at everything with wide eyes. She was in wonder of the world.

He felt proud of himself for soothing his baby without Hinata's help. He held the back of her neck and her bottom and carefully went down the stairs.

Hinata was slowly stirring the miso pot with a ladle, and she looked at Sasuke and Sayu with surprise, "Sayu is so calm!"

Fugaku was sitting on the dining table and sipping on his soup. He looked up from his bowl and automatically grinned when he saw his dad holding Sayu.

Sasuke pretended to not be so proud. But he unconsciously straightened his back and lifted his chin in pride.

Hinata knowingly smiled and approached Sasuke, holding out her arms, "Sayu~ are you not cranky today because father woke you up?"

Sayu was sucking on her red thumb as she was delivered into Hinata's arms. Sasuke suddenly felt a slight pang of emptiness when he no longer felt her palpitating heart and warmth.

Tucking Sayu beneath her chin, Hinata looked at Sasuke, "Sasuke, breakfast is set. You should join Fugaku."

He nodded quietly and headed to the dining table and sat at the opposite side of his son.

As he ate his breakfast, miso soup, rice, and fermented beans, something on Fugaku's face caught his eye.

He reached his index finger to Fugaku's cheek, "where did you get this scratch?" He asked in a calm low voice and his dark hair fell on his cheekbones as he tilted his head to see the scar better. The pad of his index finger gently caressed his son's soft round cheek. Hie skimmed his cheek with his fingertips.

Fugaku froze at first. His father was never this touchy feely. Didn't he wake up yet? To be honest, when he pulled the prank of being Sayu alarm, he didn't think his dad would react much. He was pleasantly surprised when his dad tackled him, but that time was rough manly wrestling, not touchy feely yucky like this one.

Then he kept his eyes glued to his rice bowl and casually swiped the scratch on his cheek with the back of his hand, showing Sasuke that he was a tough guy and it wasn't such a big deal, "I don't know. I don't remember."

And he voraciously ate his rice to gulp down the awkwardness.

Sasuke hummed and said in a flat tone, "ask for your mother's paste. You don't want to get a scar."

"Yes, dad," Fugaku couldn't keep his mouth from crinkling into a smile. He didn't know his dad could nag like mom sometimes.

Sasuke smiled too.

After they finished breakfast, big Sasuke and little Sasuke took their plates and utensils and saturated them with water.

Sasuke decided to take just a few minutes looking at Hinata and Sayu. He was stalling going to work and he knew but he just wanted to see Sayu wide awake for once. Since he succeeded in waking her up without annoying her, he was feeling more confident and wanted to hold his pretty daughter before going to the shop.

And he was thinking all of this with a straight laced impenetrable front of an ice king.

But to his disappointment, Sayu was in a foul mood, crying in her mother's arms. Hinata was sitting on the rocking chair, her light lavender eyes rimmed with dark circles and looking exhausted. Sasuke felt a pang of guilt at seeing Hinata's obvious exhaustion. He made her pregnant and he is having her make breakfast for everyone in the family, and he was just too busy basking in Sayu's cuteness to realize that his wife was tired.

"Ooh-aah! Ohh-aah!" Her face was turning beet red as Hinata held her close to her nipple. Sayu got quieter a while when she pressed her gummy mouth to her mother's dark brown nipple but then turned her face away and started crying again.

Hinata rocked and cooed, "There, there...aww, poor baby..."

Sasuke's brows knitted in concern and his face darkened, "What's wrong?" It frustrated him that he couldn't provide much help when Sayu is bringing down "melt-down city," as his wife called it.

Hinata kept rocking their baby and looking down, "Sayu has been having a hard time latching onto my nipple. The doctor arranged us to visit her in a hour."

He almost gawked, "Is she not eating well?" No wonder, the baby was furious. She was hungry.

"I tried feeding her from the bottle like before, but she's really resisting it today. She much prefers the teat, but she has hard time latching."

Sasuke was baffled by this "infant mom" language. He realized that Fugaku was a very easy baby as he was never picky and he wanted his hands on everything. He wondered if it was a gender matter.

Hinata sighed and stood up from the rocking chair and went to the nearby closet door and pulled out a baby wrap to swaddle Sayu with.

She has given up trying to feed Sayu even just a little bit with the bottle and her teat.

As she got herself ready to get out, she told him, "Today we are going to see a nurse named Yamashi Miyuki. She is a nursing coach."

Sasuke couldn't help, looking confused. Having finished breakfast and wanting to see what's up, Fugaku spoke Sasuke's thoughts, "A nursing coach?"

Although she was tired, and Sayu was still crying, Hinata couldn't help but look at Fugaku lovingly, "Isn't it interesting? A nursing coach helps babies latch properly."

Sasuke took the baby wrap from Hinata's hands and adjusted it over his shoulder, "You should've told me about this earlier. I will carry Sayu to the hospital."

Fugaku looked up to his mom with hope glittering in his grey eyes.

"Can I go too, mom?"

Hinata shook her head, "No, Fugaku. You're not skipping school."

Fugaku bowed his head and his shoulders slackened, "Darn it..." Sasuke ruined his hair.

* * *

 _In front of the hospital_

After handing their crying baby to Hinata, Sasuke told her firmly,

"Let me know how it goes. I want every detail." He hates it when Hinata tries to keep certain details from him, because she didn't want to quote on quote, "trouble" him. Her excuse was that she could handle it on her own, but Sasuke wasn't having any of that.

Hinata apologetically smiled for her awful habit and promised, "I'll send you a photo." And she tip toed and kissed Sasuke on his cheek.

Sasuke didn't leave until he saw his wife and daughter enter the glass door in hurried steps and was ushered by a nurse.

* * *

————————————————

Neverkarma: I am back!!! I finishrd my first grad school semester and I am back to write more! Please review, lovelies!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: a very short chapter, but I worked on this for a month, so I want to show it to you guys. I might re-upload this, because it is so short. Please don't forget to post an encouraging review! Thanks for reading.

* * *

 _In Sasuke's workshop, the same day Hinata took Sayu to the nursing coach_

With a frigid air of decisiveness m, the dark tailor told the messenger of the Water Daimyo, "it will only take a few minutes."

The young messenger cowered at the sheer coldness of the tailor's stare and cursed his past self for accepting to take on the errand. He felt as if he was hearing the loud thundering roar of a black panther with garnet eyes from behind.

The name of the "Eyeless Tailor" caused everyone in the messenger's department to shudder with horror and indignation. He just hoped the tailor wouldn't use the sharp silver needles to stab him on the neck, as he looked irate at the little, trembling intruder.

Seeing how he was scaring the messenger who was just simply doing his job, Sasuke sighed and turned his back and started carrying out the daimyo's orders.

When the frightening man finally turned his back to him, the messenger had a chance to study the physical appearance of the notorious "Eyeless Tailor."

When he at first heard the terrible epithet, "eye-less," he envisioned a ghastly old man with glass orbs as his eyes or an eye patch. Crooked and ugly, spatting on the ground and cursing the world. So when he saw the famed tailor, Uchiha Sasuke, he felt his heart sink because he thought he had the wrong guy, and his superiors will blame him for his failure.

But luckily, one of the townsmen affirmed that it was the Uchiha tailor, and when the messenger held onto him, begging, the dark brooding man threw him a single look of disgust and grumbled as he told him to wait in the shop. The messenger at first, was barely able to understand the man's muttered, "Come in."

Now that he didn't have to worry about failing his mission, the messenger got to take a careful look as he was very curious about this so-called legend of embroidery.

So he was amazed, as he saw by the soft day light of the wide window panes, a tall, lean man with wispy dark hair cascading on his broad shoulders. He looked much younger than expected, but because the former refused to show his face for too long, the messenger couldn't quite pin point how he looked like. The tailor moved his muscular, powerful looking arms with slow languidness, but somehow he was able to achieve great efficiency and even grace with his commissioned costume.

The Daimyo aristocracy of the continent already knew the notorious elusiveness of the tailor, and how he wanted just two things, 1) no visitors to his home and workplace, and 2) timely payment. At first, a lot of Daimyos were horrified by the eyeless tailor's refusal to come to their court as bid and measure them and shower them with flowery compliments like how other tailors do. But no amount of compliments and sweet honeyed words could put them on the same pedestal as the eyeless tailor whose skills were so unparalleled that he was said to have the hand of the clever crafts god.

But the Water Daimyo decided that he deserved the underling tailor's respect and pushed his messengers to find him and have them bring the commission a month earlier, instead of using these "silly delivery birds." The messenger and the rest begged to defer. The ladies in waiting and the mistresses loved petting the beautiful cranes' silky white wings and scarlet red heads and feeding them rice biscuits.

Understandably, the daimyo's disrespect of their terms of agreement caused Sasuke to throw a massive fit and cast away the poor messengers as if they were coakroaches. But, because he was sick of having more visitors, Sasuke decided to give in, provided that he will be paid twice the commission fee for expediting the order.

He ordered the messenger to wait as if he was used to be in a position of ordering men and continued to work as if he was not even there.

The messenger was dosing off in the corner until he heard a sound of a phone ringing.

He looked up and saw the tailor open his phone to view the message. The soft white light emitted by the phone screen illuminated the tailor's face, and he was surprised to see his face.

He had a face that was every courtier artist's dream and poet's song.

So when he saw a gorgeous, breathtaking smile of a marble statue spread over that unbelievable face, the messenger didn't know what to say as his head went blank.

As if unaware that the messenger was still standing there, the tailor started calling someone on the phone. As he waited for the recipient with baited breath, the messenger could clearly see the anxiousness in his eyes and the way he pursed his lips.

After a while, the tailor lifted his obsidian eyes and said,

"Is Sayu there...?" He bared his white teeth like a beast with immaculate incisors as he whispered into the phone.

'Sayu? Who was Sayu?' Even though it was none of his business, the messenger couldn't help but wonder who was the one being who the tailor was so eager to talk to. There was even a hint of worship in his voice.

Then he gasped. Was this person called "Sayu" even more powerful than the Daimyos of the Countries, themselves? Was this person "Sayu" wealthier than the rulers of the nations?

A pause.

There was a faint tremor in the tailor's voice, "Sayu?"

It seemed that someone on the other end of the tailor's phone was talking. There was an attentive, long pause.

"I see...Hmm...Yes, I understand. Yes you are right, Sayu, whatever you say is right. Always." The tailor nodded his head affirmatively, as he spoke into the phone. It seemed that they were having a serious, important conversation. But it wasn't a conversation, if one party keeps showering the other with "yes's."

'Scratch that, ' the messenger thought, 'it was not a hint of worship. This one called Sayu, who is he?"

The air was full of tension, and then suddenly the tailor turned off his phone. In a matter of seconds, he ran back to his table and started working away with fury.

The messenger silenced the sound of his own breathing, thinking that the tailor was going to straight up murder him for disrupting his flow. He was more than happy to hand him a hefty commissions fee and leave the premise once he received the arts.

* * *

A moment ago, Sasuke glared at the shivering messenger but decided to not give the lad a further scare of his life and get to work.

A leather overcoat and a gold kimono were in order. He mentally checked the steps he had to take to finish the task.

He was spreading a fabric of soft calf leather on his wooden table, until he heard a ring from his cell phone, signaling a message. He lifted his head and gave the phone a curious look, as he only uses his phone for Hinata. She was the only person in the world who has her phone number.

He flipped his phone. Then, he couldn't help the smile spreading over his face, making his dark eyes crinkle in amusement.

It was a photo message, showing Hinata holding Sayu who was only clad in a white diaper.

Sasuke looked at the photo more carefully. It showed Hinata sitting on a chair, holding a half naked Sayu. She wasn't looking directly in the photo so it seemed the nurse was taking her photo. Sayu couldn't hold her neck on her own, so Hinata was holding her head up by supporting her chin. She was also helping her baby to barp by patting her back. Their little baby looked like a tropical baby frog as she pressed her hands all over her mother's hands and stared into the distance with her large shiny eyes. She was also puffing her cheeks as if she was trying to hold in a barp.

He laughed, his lips spread wide and his usually coal black sooty eyes were glittering with pure mirth and adoration. His pale cheekbones were dusted with pink as he grinned widely.

The message said, "We finally succeeded in teaching Sayu how to latch, Sasuke! The nurse said in a delightful accent that Sayu is in 'hog heaven' whenever she successfully sucks on the teat. Sayu has been having a hard time latching because she kept thrusting her tongue instead of sucking. She weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz before our visit, and she gained 2.5 oz during the half hour observation/tutorial!"

Sayu's innocent face was staring into the blank space as she rested her adorable chubby chin on her mother's lean pale hand.

Staring into the photo, he was seized with the desire to call his daughter. Of course he knows his daughter couldn't talk into the phone but he had to feel her presence anyways. He cursed his past self for not buying a technologically advanced mobile phone or else he would video-call his daughter and see her live all the time. He could have been able to call Hinata and get her to show him Sayu's sleeping face, nursing face, looking out of the window face, and if lucky, her one in a million chance of occuring babbling.

Secretly, he was amazed by his attachment to Sayu. Even when he was dating Hinata, it never crossed his mind that he wanted to video call her. Probably because if he wanted to see her, he would just wait until they had private time to themselves. He felt a little embarrassed for making his mind to get a new phone just so he could watch and see his cute daughter even from a distance. Despite Hinata's chiding and teasing, he never got a new phone.

He pressed the call button with a beating heart and hearing the connecting tone felt like eternity.

 _Dduoo-dduoo-dduoo_

At the tenth ring, he heard Hinata's voice, _Hello? Sasuke?_

She seemed to be a little surprised by her husband's sudden phone call.

 _"_ Is Sayu there?" He almost smacked himself. Of course Sayu was with her mother. Her month and a half old baby. _His_ month and a half old baby. He beamed and felt his heart swell at the thought of Sayu's cool baby pink cheeks and large lavender eyes that reflected daylight. And how she would stare at everything as if she had the clearest, purest soul on earth. He wanted to tell his parents and brother if they were alive, _this was his baby!_

 _Nice to hear that you care about me so much too._ She laughed good naturedly. He blushed and scowled as she teased him. Then he heard her voice,

 _Do you want to say hi to daddy, Sayu? Daddy called._

It was the most electric moment of anticipation for Sasuke as he heard his heart beat like a maddening dream in anticipation of his little princess's voice.

But it also felt like an eternity so when a minute or two passed, he could barely hide the sense of disappointment in his face, "Did Sayu say 'no?' Again, he knew that Sayu couldn't answer but it brought him a huge sense of sadness to think that his daughter whom he would pull his heart out for didn't even want to hear her daddy.

Then finally, he heard Hinata's amiable voice.

 _Sayu is on the phone now, Sasuke._

He could hardly hold his breath as he called her name tentatively,

"Sayu...?"

'Fuck, even my voice is trembling,' he thought. It did. It was barely noticeable, but the end of his voice rose in a slight tremble. He didn't remember the last time he spoke like this since he last faced Itachi's spirit.

But what returned to his eager plea was Sayu's cruel doll-like silence, "..."

To his slight disappointment, Sayu didn't even let out a gurgling sound or a squeal.

He heard Hinata's laughter from the distance. She must have sensed his chagrin. He swore she was using her byakugan on him.

He heard her suggest softly _Sasuke, why don't you try talking to Sayu the way you see me talk with her? She is a stoic baby, despite her deceivingly sweet looks, but sometimes, she responds to that._

He remembered how Hinata would hold their baby and speak to her as if they were holding a private conversation. She would speak in a syrupy voice, "How was your day? Oh, really?"

He uttered into the phone with a soft breathy voice, "Sayu?"

"..."

The silence flowing in the air felt longer.

Sasuke didn't know what to do, except just holding the phone dumbly.

Then he heard a soft voice from the phone receiver, _Ss-_

He felt the most instantaneous surge of happiness until he heard his wife's feminine voice, _Sasuke?_ He felt his shoulders drop and his chest calm immediately.

 _Could you try continuing to speak to her please? Sayu is looking bored with the phone pressed to her. I think she wants to continue looking at cats._

 _"_ Cats _?"_

 _"She was squirming and looking confused when I took her in from the garden. She was busy looking at cats and rabbits and chipmunks before you called._

'Cats? Cats?!' He, Uchiha Sasuke, has just lost to a bunch of cats?

He was so busy absorbed in his thought process that he had forgotten about the messenger staring at his constantly changing expressions with a kind of fearful fascination.

He coughed slightly and spoke into the phone, in the most _agreeable_ way he could think of.

In a meditative, pensive voice, he nodded into the phone, "I see...Hmm...Yes, I understand. Yes you are right, Sayu, whatever you say is right. Always."

But then he heard a muted sound of clicking. And then a long beep.

* * *

Sasuke closed his store front and stretched his back and beat his shoulder. He was tired but he was just too happy to be done with his work and see his family.

He passed by little stalls of crafts, but something caught his eye.

When he approached the stall, the artisan stood up and smiled, "hello."

He gave a curt nod and fixed his gaze on the various kinds hairpieces glittering by the dimming sunlight.

'Hinata was noticing how other girls were doing their hair. But she has been too busy to get anything for herself.'

He remembered when she was breastfeeding Sayu in public, with a cloth hung over her neck that concealed her breasts. She was gazing quietly at a group of young women trying on various hairpieces and laughing. It pained him to see her just turn her head away and smile down at her baby.

He thought, 'she would look lovely with a pearl hairpiece.'

* * *

After dinner, Sasuke broke out the question, "Why did you hang up on me?" Fugaku was sitting on the table next to him, trying to solve the Rubik's cube his father got for him. Sayu was upstairs, sleeping, her left cheek and tummy pressed on mattress.

Hinata was sweeping the long fringe of her indigo hair covering her forehead with Sasuke's new gift-a hair clip decorated with pearls.

Her eyes widened as she thought about his question a bit, and she laughed, remembering what just happened during Sayu's phone call.

He asked with his brows furrowing in concern and disappointment, "Did Sayu cry? Is that why?"

She shook her head and resumed washing the dishes with cold, cooling water, "Oh no, no. Sayu might be challenging at times, but she is not a serious cry-er."

Sasuke looked visibly relieved, "Then why did you hang up?"

Her eyes twinkled meaningfully, "I didn't. Sayu did."

He tilted his head to a side and crossed his arms.

When she laughed, Fugaku explained instead, his grey eyes still pinned on the Rubik's cube, "Mom told me that Sayu got so frustrated that she slapped the phone to the floor."

When Sasuke didn't know what to say, she laughed, "Sayu has taken after my looks, but I think...personalitywise, she has taken after your family."

 **NO!** Both Fugaku and Sasuke rose from their seats at Hinata's words. She looked back at them, amusement making her eyebrow arch upwards, looking at the exact replicas of the Uchiha bloodline turning pale at the idea that baby Sayu has inherited their character.

She looked at Sasuke with amusement and teased lightly, "I didn't make Sayu all by myself, anata. You really didn't expect her to take after you...in some way?"

Fugaku protested, "But mom!" He seemed at loss of words, "But Sayu-she-" He looked at the family photo where Sayu was in his arms, looking very content.

Sasuke slightly glared down at his son, resentful that his son was so against having the Uchiha's character. Yes, they have the famous Uchiha temper, and they are notoriously stubborn and prideful and maybe inflexible, but they are still honorable people.

But then when he imagined his dear porcelain baby Sayu, with her large doll-like lavender eyes, being rebellious like a wolf cub, he felt his heart shrink a little. It is not like he wants his daughter to be a china doll, fragile and useless, absolutely not. But he still wanted to indulge in his fantasy of being a father to his beautiful moon child baby.

He used to be so happy when he saw his moon child daughter staring up at the rustling leaves when he changes her diaper by the window sill. Or when he takes her out on walks by the little pond and she looks at the world around her, and her pastel lavender eyes catch the light. Her long, ash brown lashes would blink at the marvel around her. How happy he was.

He used to secretly feel relieved, because he thought his daughter inherited her mother's cute looks and sweet, sensitive personality. But now it turned out to be just a wishful thought.

His daughter, who was not even 4 months yet, had the strength, boldness, and impatience to slap off her mommy's cell phone to the ground. With that perfect, doll-like indifference.

He felt a sort of loss he didn't feel for a long time.

Hinata smiled at both of their crestfallen faces, "Fugaku, you and your father have wonderful personalities~"

She almost chortled when she saw the same wry expression copied and pasted on both the boy and man's face.

But she continued, "You both are brave and know what you want. And honest. I'm glad Sayu has taken over those traits. She is still a baby, but she'll grow up to be a strong, good girl."

"But Sayu-looks like you!" Fugaku balked, "It would look so weird to see you grumpy like dad!"

Hinata's eyes widened. Despite her sweet spokenness, this time, she didn't really know what to say, except "Oh."


	15. Chapter 15

Hinata's husband didn't take it very well since his dramatic revelation about their daughter Sayu.

Hinata was actually quite amused by the fact that her mini-doppleganger with light ash brown hair has shown some prominent aspects of her husband and son's personality. Like having a strong preference and being stubborn despite her young age.

She rested her little baby by the crook of both of her elbows and lifted her up and down, "so serious! Aren't you so serious!" She spoke with humor and a hint of exaggeration in her attempt to make her baby girl laugh.

She cooed as her baby daughter smiled and made a cutest cackling sound she ever heard. The tiny baby required some exertion to make a laugh that sounded like half coughing. Not wanting to miss the occasion, Sasuke made sure to record it with his new phone that he hastily fumbled out from his pocket. He smiled at the thought of seeing his adorable wife and baby in motion when he is at work.

Even Sasuke had to acknowledge the truth. Sayu did indeed look a bit stubborn even when she is content. A neighborhood lady called her, "Miss Grumpus." Her downward slanted light brown brows over her big eyes made a striking impression for a baby. But everyone seemed to adore Sayu and meant no ill intentions.

Sayu also had some interesting quirks. Like randomly kissing strangers on the cheek. It was so sweet and also very rare, but it concerned both her father and brother. Especially Sasuke who didn't like seeing his daughter get too physically close to other people. He just had to be protective that way. On the other hAnd, Hinata was slightly more relaxed when it came to her daughter and other people.

Thanks to her doll-like looks, people fawned on Sayu openly.

"Aren't you so cute?" A passing stranger asked.

"Aeoooo" was Sayu's drooly answer as her mother pushed her stroller and bowed her head slightly with a smile.

Once, Hinata's friend, Yoko who was also a mother with two children, brought some treats-something she baked and coated with honey. It was a gift in return of Hinata's bread that she baked and sent through Fugaku.

Hinata was holding Sayu when Yoko was about to leave, "Yoko, would you like Sayu to give you a thank you kiss?"

Yoko almost squealed in happiness and leaned over.

Sayu looked at Yoko squarely and blinked her huge eyes. Her long light brown lashes curled upward as she stared at the lady with a blank and innocent expression.

Then the three month old baby turned her head to a side and pretended to not see Yoko in front of her.

She didn't whine or fight, she just turned her face to a side. Even then she looked so cute, thanks to her rosy chubby cheeks and large lavender eyes fringed with lashes. It was the cutest "no" ever, in Yoko and Hinata's eyes.

Yoko squealed this time and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.

Sayu started and flailed her arms for a minute in surprise of the kiss on the cheek. Then she looked up at Yoko with a winsome look and wouldn't turn her gaze away from her until she left.

"Aww, you wish Yoko stayed, my love?" Hinata cooed.

But suddenly, as if she forgot about the thing with Yoko, Sayu turned her head away with a decisive air and cuddled to her mother's warm neck.

Hinata thought the contrast between Sayu's quiet, serious personality and cute, fairie looks was fascinating. It made Sayu even more interesting with a certain twist.

So she was rather surprised when her husband has taken it quite hardly that his daughter had his wayward, head- strong, and lofty personality.

Fugaku was shocked at first but then went "whatever" and resumed his usual activities like hunting or flying airplanes with his few close friends.

He would play with Sayu after dinner for about a few minutes, like rolling kanji blocks in front of her amd watching her try to grab the kanji blocks wuth her delicate pudgy hands.

But Sasuke went to greater lengths to deny that his little angel has been poisoned by his family's temperament.

He would even try to "coo" at his daughter, makimg his son laugh so hard he nearly fell over.

When Fugaku watched his baby sister lying on her seat, playing with a stuffed giraffe, and by playing- sucking on the giraffe's face as gingerly as possible -he turned to his mother, "she is so small."

Hinata almost laughed at his expression. It was almost as if her son believed he was never a baby!

Soon she brought a thick dark green photo album and opened it onthe floor. It was Fugaku's baby and toddler album.

Fugaku lied on his belly and watched as his mother flipped the broad vinyl covered pages.

Hinata chuckled and stroked her son's dark wavey hair, "just like how you were. I keep remembering how little you were. And cute. And how you started crawling..."

She remembered vividly when her son Fugaku was just a tiny baby. A small pudgy rosy hued baby with big grey eyes, who liked to make gurgling noises and drool when looking at his surroundings.

Fugaku gave his baby photos a serious look. Then he turned his face away(much like how Sayu would) and said decisively, "I think Sayu is cuter."

Hinata out her arm around her son and gently pecked him on his temple.

Sasuke picked Sayu up, father and daughter, and she was nestled in her father's strong arms.

When her brother brought one of his his baby photos closer to her so she could also see it, she tapped on a photo where he was sitting on a bumbo chair with a serious expression. She widely flailed her arm in a sudden burst of energy and then started stroking her brother's angelic face in approval.

"How funny," Hinata mused. Sasuke nodded along.

* * *

A/N: Hello, I felt like writing this tiny snippet to hopefully cheer up my readers during this time. I just moved to a different graduate school, and many things have changed so I stopped writing for a long time. Thank you for patiently waiting for me, and I hope we could all get through this tough time! Thank you!


End file.
